


The Turning of the Tide

by CrazyStarFish



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: (well some do but they come back), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Deaf Clint Barton, F/M, Fix-It, Gen, M/M, POV Alternating, Pietro Maximoff Lives, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-04 01:07:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20462531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrazyStarFish/pseuds/CrazyStarFish
Summary: "Clint stood in the middle of the contraption, breathing slowly and deeply. This mission, this test to save the universe rested squarely on his shoulders.And he knew exactly what he was going to do."An Endgame fix-it fic





	The Turning of the Tide

**Author's Note:**

> So, this fic is self-indulgent as f u c k. I wrote it as a "fuck you" to Endgame canon, but I tried to make it like an actual Marvel movie, something that you could envision yourself watching on the bigscreen, hence, many scenes are quoted almost in full, changed slightly to better fit the fic.

Clint stood in the middle of the contraption, breathing slowly and deeply. This mission, this _ test _ to save the _ universe _ rested squarely on his shoulders.

And he knew _ exactly _what he was going to do. He had a plan, a theory of sorts. If this plan to get the Stones, which were currently nothing more then long gone vapor, could work, why couldn’t they bring people back as well?

“Alright Clint,” Bruce said, typing on the control panels as Steve, Rhodey and Tony looked on warily. “We’re going in three…”

His helmet snapped on over his face. Clint felt apprehensive in a way he had _ never _ felt before, but _ knew _ what he had to do.

“Two…” The Quantum Tunnel whirled to life above and below him, and he clenched his hands into fists.

“One…” A bright orange glow came from the center of the Tunnel as he felt himself being _ squeezed, _ compressed in a way he’d never felt before. He flailed around in empty space for a brief moment before tucking his arms at his sides as he shot forward in oddly shaped tunnels made of blue. The screen inside his helmet pinpointed the tunnel he needed to go through, and he leaned to the left.

Then, just as suddenly as he had shrunk, he regrew back to his normal height, letting out a surprised and pained “Ahhhhh!” as he leaned against a half crushed empty building for support.

_ Sokovia, 2014 _

Clint looked around, taking in the sight of destroyed buildings, the sounds of gunfire and people running and fleeing.

He did it. He was here.

And he only had five minutes to fix this. One for each year his family, half the planet, half the _universe_ had been gone. And he wasn’t going to waste a second of it.

Checking around to make sure no one was looking, he smacked the side of his helmet with the palm of his hand and straightened up as the helmet retracted, taking a deep breath and quickly scanning the area.

There. Hanging from the rail, he saw the kid he saved.

The one Pietro Maximoff had died for.

Darting forward, silent as a mouse and shaking like a leaf, he grabbed the kid, shoved him into the arms of a fleeing refugee, and ran back into the building, just as the gunshots from Ultron’s ship could be heard. He looked out a glassless window and took a step back.

_ Four minutes. _

And straight into Pietro Maximoff.

“Hey, old ma- what happened to the little costume you had on before? Too subtle?” Pietro’s face was covered in dirt, and he was grinning despite massaging a stitch in his side, unaware of how close he had come to _ dying _ . Clint looked him in the eye, looked into the face of a person who had been _ dead _ for nine years now, and something in his mind must’ve shown on his face, because suddenly the smile and Pietro’s joking demeanor had dropped.

Clint grabbed Pietro’s arm, feeling almost faint and hearing a ringing in his ears that had nothing to do with malfunctioning hearing aids and said urgently: “Listen kid, I don’t have a lot of time here, and I’ll explain everything later, but I _need _to get you to safety. Whatever I say, whatever I ask of you to do, I _need _ you to do it. Do you understand?” “But what about my sister? What about her safety?” Pietro questioned, looking slightly alarmed at Clint’s intensity and insistence. 

_ Three minutes. _

“Your sister’s fine, she’s gonna be fine, I promise. But _ you, _ on the other hand, you need to come with me if you ever want to see her again. And we need to leave _ now. _ ” Clint pulled out a shrunken spare suit and used one of the disks he snuck off Scott when the guy wasn’t paying attention, which was pretty much almost always, to regrow the suit. “Put this on now. And _ hurry. _” 

The gunshots from Ultron’s ship had faded, but Clint still kept his guard up. Any second now, a horde of robots could burst in and start firing at them both, and there’d be precious little either one of them could do about it.

  
_Two minutes._

Pietro still looked confused and wary but suited up, pulling it over the grime stained clothes he was already wearing. Clint caught sight of a bullet wound as he checked his watch and made a mental note to get it patched up once they got back to the base. 

_ One minute. _

His suit started beeping, and Pietro’s did too. 

“Barton?” Pietro asked, looking slightly fearful. “Why are-” He was cut off as they both shrunk and got thrown through time.

_ Avenger’s base, New York, 2023 _

Clint felt himself land, yelling in pain once again as he shot back to his normal size, and heard a thud and a loud “Oww!” from across him. The Quantum Tunnel groaned and powered down as he knelt on the platform, hardly daring to believe it.

He did it. They were back. 

Natasha rushed forward, followed by Tony, Scott and Rocket and helped him up, holding his face in her hands as Clint looked around the base. “Hey, hey, look at me. You okay?” She said, patting his chest, checking for injuries or perhaps to reassure him, Clint didn’t know which. “Yeah…” He said, looking at Pietro, nodding. Natasha followed his eyes and then let out a small gasp of shock as Pietro rolled over onto his back and grinned, the helmet _whooshing _off his head. “Well, that was fun.” He said, getting to his feet, shaking just as much as Clint. “Let’s _never _do that again, yeah?”

Clint took a shaky breath and clapped Piero on the shoulder, looking at Natasha and saying lowly. “It-it worked..” And then, to Scott and Tony, who were staring at them in shock, he nodded and said louder. “It _ worked. _”

Tony didn’t grin like Pietro, but he sure as hell looked triumphant. 

Scott squinted at Pietro. “Hey, aren’t you… Wanda’s brother?” He said, looking confusedly between him and Clint. At Wanda’s name, Pietro turned and looked expectantly at Clint. 

“You said I was going to see my sister again, yeah? Where is she?” Pietro glanced around the room, searching for Wanda’s face. “Wanda! Wanda, where are you?”

Clint put his hand on Pietro’s face gently, like he used to do for Laura, for Lila, for Cooper, for Nate and for _Wanda._ A touch that held apologizes, and sorrow, and regret. Pietro narrowed his eyes at Clint. “Where. Is. My. _Sister?!_” He snarled, jerking his head back, eyes flashing bright blue.

“Let’s… let’s go get you cleaned and patched up, and I’ll… I’ll explain.” Clint said, unable to met Pietro’s fierce gaze.

Pietro shook his head, stepping slowly back and away from Clint. “Wanda! Wanda! Where _ are _ you?!” He stepped off the platform, still shaking, and ran from them, calling for his sister.

His _ dead _sister.

Clint watched the flash of blue and silver round the corner and he fell to his knees, a horrible pit of guilt settling in his stomach. Natasha knelt down next to him, and turned his face towards hers. “_ We’ll _ explain.” She said, looking him in the eyes. “And then… we’ll bring his sister back. We’re gonna get them _ all _back.” Her tone left no room for arguing.

“Y-yeah..” Clint nodded again, taking a deep breath and heaving himself back up on uncooperating legs. “Yeah.” He repeated, the guilt being swiftly replaced by determination. If he could bring Pietro back, he could damn well bring everyone else back too. “We’ll get them back.”

  
Clint had only been gone five minutes. But it was some of the longest five minutes of his life.

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

Pietro sat in the meeting room, bullet hole patched up, a half consumed bottle of Gatorate in one hand and a locket in the other. Tears ran down his face, and he wiped them off with the back of his hand.

“Nine _years_…” He said, voice hollow with grief, flipping the locket open and shut, over and over again, revealing and hiding a picture of himself with his parents and Wanda. _“Nine _years…” He shook his head, tearing his gaze away from the photo and looking at Clint. He seemed almost... resigned to everything, which Clint supposed was better than the burning anger and screaming that had followed the reveal of his sister’s death. “Why didn’t you just save me and let me stay in 2014?” He questioned, dropping his head in his hands. “Why didn’t you let me stay with Wanda?” “Too risky.” Natasha replied, staring at six different projections that held the Stones and their information. “If Clint had saved you, but then let you continue wandering around for years after, you could’ve died on a different mission. Or have been…” _Snap!_ She snapped her fingers. “Like your sister.” She sighed, and looked at Pietro. “But we’re going to bring her back. We’re going to bring_ everyone_ back.” “You better.” Was Pietro’s only response, watching her as she took a seat next to Rhodey and across from himself. Thor sat on a chair a few feet behind her, and Clint honestly didn’t know if he was asleep or not. Bruce opted to stand, as did Steve and Tony. Rocket sat next to Rhodey, and Scott took on end of the table. Nebula fiddled with her shirt, sitting away from the table and Clint leaned on the wall behind him.

“Okay, so the _ how _ works,” Steve began, walking in front of the projections of the Stones, and nodding his head in Pietro’s direction. “Now we gotta figure out the _ when _ , and the _ where. _ ” He nodded and he turned his attention from the screens to everyone else. “Almost everyone in this room has had an encounter with at least _ one _ of the six Infinity Stone,” Clint didn’t miss the flick of Steve’s eyes as they landed on Pietro for a fraction of a second longer than anyone else’s, and from the looks of it, Pietro didn’t miss it either. 

“Or, substitute the word ‘encounter’ for ‘damn near have been killed’ by one of the six Infinity Stones.” Tony said, gesturing to himself as he paced from one end of the room to the other, a cup of coffee in hand.

“Well, I haven’t.” Scott said. “I don’t even know what the hell you all are talking about.” “Regardless,” Bruce said, walking around the table. “We only have enough Pym particles for one roundtrip _each_, and these Stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history.”

“_Our_ history.” Tony said, tilting his head and walking around the room once more. “So, not a lot of convenience spots to just drop in, yeah?” “Don’t suppose we have to pick our targets.” Clint said, folding his arms over his chest as Tony passed him.

“Correct.” Tony pointed back at Clint with the hand holding the coffee cup. Great.

“So,” Steve nodded at Thor. “Let’s start with the Aether. Thor, what do you know?” Everyone in the room turned their heads towards Thor, who had sunglasses on. Indoors. _Ridiculous. _ “Is he asleep?” Natasha asked, pausing in fiddling with a pen.

“No, no,” Rhodey responded. “I’m pretty sure he’s _ dead.” _

Pietro got a _ wicked _ grin on his face as he looked at Thor, then everyone else, then Thor again, wearing a look Clint had seen _ far _ too often on his kid’s faces to believe anything good was going to happen next. Before Clint could even open his mouth to protest, Pietro leapt up, grabbed the beer can in Thor’s hand and threw it against the wall, shouting; “GET OFF YOUR ASS.”

And just like that, Thor was up, hollering in confusion. And a wall was covered in beer.

But Pietro was smiling again, and _ that, _ at least, was something. 

Thor regained himself surprisingly quickly and stumbled up to the front of the room, taking off his sunglasses (_Finally,_ Clint thought) as he spoke. “Uh, where to start... Um.. the Aether.” Thor tapped the screen with his sunglasses. “First off is not a Stone, someone called it a Stone before.” He pointed at Steve, who narrowed his eyes in confusion as Thor continued. “It’s more of a… an angry sludge sort of thing so…” Thor tilted his head back and squired some eye drops into his prosthetic eye. “Someone’s going to need to amend that, and stop saying that.” Clint, who had taken a seat next to Rhodey, shared a look of _“can you believe this?” _with him.

“Here’s an interesting story though, about the Aether… My grandfather, many years ago, had to hide the Stone from the Dark Elves. Wooooo, scary beings.” Thor fluttered his hands as Nebula looked bored, Rocket facepalmed and Natasha, who had one leg on the table, pressed her face into her hand and blinked slowly, as if trying to process what was happening in front of her.

“So Jane, actually...” Thor continued, either not noticing or not caring about everyone else’s reactions, focusing on the picture of Jane Foster that popped up on the screen. “Oh, there she is. That’s Jane, she’s… an old flame of mine. She- she stuck her hand inside a rock, this one time… and- and then the Aether stuck itself inside of her. And she became very, very sick. So I had to take her to Asgard, which is where I’m from.” 

Scott nodded excitedly, listening intently. He was the only person in the room not bored or annoyed or both out of their mind. Clint was seriously considering removing his hearing aids. Pietro’s leg was bouncing up and down so fast it was almost a blur. Natasha just sighed.

“And we had to try and fix her. W-we were dating, at the time, you see. And I- I got to introduce her to my mother…” Thor trailed off, suddenly looking very depressed and on the verge of tears. “Who’s dead, and um… Oh, you know Jane and I aren’t even, um, dating anymore…” Bruce waved a hand across his throat, and Tony got up. “Those things happen, you know, nothing lasts forever, the only thing that-” Tony walked up to Thor and said. “Why don’t you come sit down?” 

But Thor shook his head. “I’m not done yet. The only thing permanent in life is impermanence.” 

Clint shared another look with Rhodey. Tony clapped his hands together twice, a toothpick clamped between his teeth. “Awesome. Eggs? Breakfast?” “No, no,” Thor said, swaying slightly. “I’d like a Bloody Mary.”

Tony looked at Thor, then held up a hand. “Be right back. Maximoff, you wanna help?” Pietro leapt up to his feet again, rushing out the door in a blue and silver blur, and then back in the room. “Um…” He said sheepishly. “I… have no idea where I’m going or what I’m helping with.” Tony shrugged, walking out the door. “You heard the man. He wants a Bloody Mary. To the kitchen, chop chop.” Pietro ran out the door again, while Tony followed at a more leisurely pace. Rocket looked up. “I claim explainin’ the next Stone, before any of you numbskulls can kill me with boredom.”

Rhodey shrugged one shoulder. “Whatever.” He said, checking over the notes he had.

Tony and Pietro appeared back in the room twenty minutes later, with takeout and drinks, and Rocket took that as his chance to explain the Power Stone.

“Quill said he stole the Power Stone from Morag.” Rocket began, pacing on the table.

“Is that a person?” Scott asked.

“Morag’s a _ planet _, Quill was a person.” Rocket corrected irritably.

“L-like a planet? Like in outer space?” Scott asked, shoving noodles in his mouth.

“Awww, look, it’s like a little puppy, all happy and everything.” Rocket said sarcastically as he ruffled Scott’s hair. “Do you want to go to space? You wanna go to space, puppy? I’ll take ya ta space!”

Natasha and Clint shared a _ look. _ Today… was going to be a loooong day.

~~*~~

An hour later, the table was cleared and the food was put away, and Nebula now stood at the front of the room to give her information about the Soul Stone. 

“Thanos found the Stone on Vormir.” She said in her low voice. Natasha, who was taking notes on a notepad, asked curtly; “What is Vormir?”

“A dominion of death, at the very center of celestial existence… It’s where… ” Nebula explained, looking at the floor and sounding more hoarse than usual. “... Thanos murdered my sister.” She finished. Everyone bowed their heads, and the only sound in the room was the gentle _ scritch _ of Natasha’s pen on paper.

“... Not it.” Scott said.

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

Clint had an earpiece strapped to his hearing aide, walking in silence next to Pietro, who looked around the facility warily. He had asked for a tour of the place, which Clint took as code for “I need time and space to think”. Clint had decided to be his guide, asking Natasha for an earpiece so he could be kept in the loop of the Stone talk, for both their sakes.

“... That Time Stone guy,” Natasha said, as Bruce corrected her. “Doctor Strange.”

“Yeah, what- what kind of doctor was he?” Natasha asked, tapping her pen against her hand.

“Neuro stuff meets rabbit from a hat.” Tony responded tiredly. 

“Nice place in the Village, though.” Bruce said, and Tony responded; “Yeah, Sullivan Street.” 

“Hmmm… Bleecker.” Bruce corrected idly. “Wait, he lived in New York?” Natasha asked in an incredulous tone, which prompted Tony and Bruce to try and outsmart each other.

“No, he lived in Toronto-” “Yeah, on Bleeker and Sullivan!” Bruce interjected. 

“Are you even listening to anything?” Tony said sarcastically.

“Guys…” Natasha started, and Clint _ knew _ that tone. He stopped, and so did Pietro, who looked at him quizzically. Clint only held up a hand and pushed his earpiece/hearing aid deeper into his ear.

“If you pick the right year…” Natasha continued. “There are_ three_ Stones in New York.” Silence. And then: 

“... Shut the front door.” Bruce said disbelievingly, and yeah, that about summed up how Clint was feeling. _Three_ Stones? In the same year? Well damn. That made their jobs a _lot_ easier then.

“Natasha, Bruce, call everyone back in here _ now _.” Tony said urgently. Clint heard Bruce’s lumbering frame run out of the room, and Natasha’s voice in his ear. “You hear that? Conference room, asap.”

“On it.” He responded, turning his attention back to Pietro. “Back to the room. We have a time heist to pull off, and a universe to save.” “And my sister to get back.” Pietro responded. Clint nodded, grabbing Pietro’s arm and jogging back to the room. “Yuh-huh. And your sister to get back. And my family too.” 

Pietro gave another wicked grin, and scooped Clint up, dashing back into the room.

“What?” He said cheekily. “You were too slow for my tastes.” Clint, who was holding his head as he tried not to puke, almost preferred time travel. Almost.

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

“Alright, We have a plan.” Steve said, the Stones on full display on-screen. Three were in one screen, while the rest were separated. “Six stones, three groups, one shot.” Everyone looked at the holograms of the Stones, and then each other. Never before in history had the stakes been this high for the team. One shot. One chance to correct their mistakes.

“So,” Pietro asked, breaking the silence, uncharastically somber. “Where do we start?” Steve looked around the room, then nodded his head once. “Suit up.” So they did.

~~*~~

Tony handed Pietro a bundle of dark blue-ish black cloth, with silver and bright blue trim in certain places.

“This is heavy.” Pietro observed, unfolding the bundle to reveal a fitted jumpsuit with a high collar and slight padding in areas.

“It’s bulletproof.” Tony said, and no one needed to ask why. Tony also handed Pietro a pair of what looked like modified axe blades attached to arm cuffs. As Tony clipped them onto Pietro’s arms, Clint could see that that was essentially what they were.

“Really, Tones?” Rhodey said, adjusting his gloves. “Kid’s going to be manning the controls while we’re gone, not fighting a squadron of evil alien robots.”

As Pietro had a near-photographic memory, and no one wanted to risk bringing him back in time, he was to stay back and keep an eye on the controls and generally make sure the machine didn’t spontaneously combust while everyone was still back in time.

Tony shrugged, flicking a switch and pressing a few buttons. “Just staying on the safe side of things platypus. And making sure they’re a clean, tight fit. Which they are, I mean, I designed them and I _ am _a genius. Now-” He turned his attention to Pietro, who was watching Tony closely. “Go get dressed and come back here ASAP.”

Pietro nodded, and sped off, returning only seconds later, fully suited up. Tony nodded in approval, and he went into the back room to make sure everyone was ready, Rhodey right behind him. Clint locked eyes with Pietro for a moment, then nodded, and followed Tony and Rhodey as well.

_ One chance. _

A few minutes later, after suits had been checked and rechecked and plans had been confirmed for the final time, they walked out towards the Quantum Tunnel, Steve and his shield leading, followed by Tony and Natasha, Nebula, Scott, Rocket, Clint, Rhodey, Bruce, and finally Thor bringing up the rear. Bruce broke off for a few moments to help Pietro start up the machine as the rest of them circled up. 

Clint gestured for Pietro to join them. After pressing a few final buttons, he did so.

“Five years ago, we lost.” Steve said, looking around. “All of us. We lost friends, we lost family… we lost a part of ourselves.”

“Today we have a chance to take it all back.” Steve continued, nodding at everyone. “You know your teams, and you know your missions. Get the Stones, and _get them back.” _Everyone stuck their hands in a circle, an unspoken ring of trust, of communication, of determination. “One roundtrip _each._ No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know. That doesn’t mean we should know what to expect. Be careful, and look out for each other. _ This _is the fight of our _lives._” “And we’re gonna win.” Tony looked at Steve, almost smiling, who looked back at him. “Whatever it takes.”

Now Tony was definitely smiling, and Steve offered a small one in return. “Good luck.” He said, stepping back, and then the speech was over. 

“He’s pretty good at that.” Rocket said as Pietro went back to the controls, followed closely by Bruce. 

“Right?” Scott said, almost- no, _ definitely _ in awe.

“Alright, you heard the man, stroke those keys Jolly Green and Sonic the Hedgehog.” “The tract is engaged.” Bruce responded, delicately hitting keys with a pen one at a time as Pietro’s hands flew over his half of the keyboard.

Clint looked at the shrunken ship in his hand. _ The Milano, _ Rocket had called it.

“You_ promise _ to bring that back in one piece right?” Rocket asked doubtfully.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I’ll do my best.” He gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile to Rocket. Having a suit in your pocket was one thing, have a spaceship that was faster than the speed of sound and could crush you if it were to reform at the wrong time? That was a _ completely _different thing.

“As promises go, that was pretty lame.” Rocket grumbled.

Bruce clapped Pietro on the shoulder and then lumbered back onto the platform, smacking his watch, and starting the system. Natasha looked at Steve and said checkily: “See you in a minute.”

Steve smiled, then took a deep breath and his gaze turned stony as he thought of what laid ahead of them.

With a final flourish of the keyboard from Pietro, the Tunnel whirled to life, humming and buzzing as the floor lit up and the plates overhead spun into a six petal flower shape. Their helmets _ whooshed _ over their faces as the plates lifted upwards and then…

They were gone. Pietro looked at the empty platform, which only seconds ago had been occupied, and wondered grimly if he was ever going to see any of them again.

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

_Morag, 2014 _

“Alright, bring it down, Blue, right on that line. That’s it, down, down.” Rhodey coached encouragingly as Nebula gently lowered the Milano to the ground.

Natasha kicked at one of the little rodent things that tried to climb up her boot. It squealed horribly as it flew several feet in the air and back. It got up to its feet, screeched, and then ran off as she looked it in disgust.

“Hey can we hurry it up?” Clint asked. “Guys, chop chop, c’mon we’re on the clock.” Natasha added.

“All that, it’s really helpful.” Rhodey said sarcastically. Natasha smiled and Clint gestured for them to _ hurry up. _

Finally, the ship was on the ground, Nebula had punched in the coordinates, and it was time to say their goodbyes.

Natasha hugged Rhodey, and said softly. “Take care, okay?”

Rhodey hugged back and said. “Get that Stone and come back, no messin’ around.” Natasha nodded and walked up to the ship, waiting for Clint.

“Hey,” Clint said as he shook hands with Rhodey. “Hey. You got this.” Rhodey said, and Clint nodded in agreement. “Let’s get it done.” He clapped Rhodey on the back.

“Yes sir.” Rhodey said, and Clint responded. “See you back.” And boarded the ship just as Rhodey called: “You guys watch each other’s six.” 

Natasha and Clint smiled back at Rhodey and Nebula, waving goodbye and taking their seats, making sure to strap in tight as the ship tilted upwards and flew off.

When the ship went into hyber-drive, the whole sky in front of the blurring together and the force of the engines pushing them back into their seats, they couldn’t help but smile at each other. It was almost like being a kid on a rollercoaster, except the rollercoaster was in space and faster than sound.

Clint looked over at Natasha, grinning like crazy. “We’re a _ long _ way from Buddapest.” Natasha just laughed and shook her head fondly.

It only took a few moments to go through all the Jump Points and arrive at Vormir. Once the ship slowed down, Clint and Natasha unbuckled and began collecting their weapons.

"Wow,” Clint said grimly, taking in the sight before them. “Under different circumstances, this would be totally awesome.”

Natasha nodded in agreement, taking control of the ship’s steering and directing them down onto the planet.

They had a Stone to get.

Once the ship was landed, they disembarked and started the hike to the mountain before them. The sky looked to be in a permanent state of sunset… or was it sunrise? And snow drifted softly around them.

It was almost… peaceful.

They hiked in silence, taking a worn path up to the top and taking in their surroundings, identifying any potential threats or dangers. Something about this place set them on edge, and the sooner they were off, the better.

Finally they reached the top, winded and breathing hard. Clint stretched as Natasha said. “Oh… I bet the raccoon didn’t have to climb a mountain.”

"_Technically, _ he’s _ not _ a raccoon, you know.” Clint responded. 

“Oh, whatever. He eats garbage.” Natasha shot back.

**“Welcome.”** A booming voice said, and quick as a whip, Clint drew his sword and Natasha cocked her gun, flicking the safety off, both of them turning to the source of the voice.

A robed figure hovered a fair distance away from them, giving no sign that he- the owner of the voice- was taken by surprise at their hostility. On the contrary, he spoke again, as calm as before.

**“Natasha, daughter of Ivan… Clint, son of Edith…”** Clint met Natasha’s eye and the two of them advanced forward towards the robed figure, tightening their grips on their respective weapons.

“Who are you.” Natasha demanded softly, looking and sounding seconds away from pulling her trigger. **“Consider me a… guide, to you.” **The voice said, lowering itself to the ground and nearing Natasha and Clint. **“And to all who seek the Soul Stone.”** “Oh good.” Natasha began dangerously. “You tell us where it is and we’ll be on our way.

**“Oh… Liebchen…” ** The figure stepped out of the shadows to reveal a bright red face devoid of a nose. **“If only it were that easy…”**

It was Redskull. The figure of shadows, the keeper of the Soul Stone… was Redskull.

Redskull floated over to the edge of the cliff. **“What you seek lies in front of you… as does what you fear.” **Natasha peered over the edge. 

“The Stone’s down there.” She said, trying to decipher Redskull’s words. Did they have to climb back down for it? Was there a monster they had to battle for the rights to the Stone?

"**For one of you.” ** Redskull responded. Natasha heard Clint walking up slowly behind her. **“For the other… In order to take the Stone, you must lose that which you love.” **

Clint stood directly behind Natasha now, looking down at the ground hundreds of feet below them. If they fell… there would be no surviving that. The wind was harsh and bitter but not strong enough to push them over the edge unless it picked up. If one of them were to fall, right now, it would be from either sheer clumsiness (unlikely) Or… because they were pushed off.

"**An everlasting exchange… a soul… for a soul.” **

Well, that was the price. But how was it paid? And what did it mean? Natasha was confused. She walked away from the edge of the cliff and sat on a protruding rock while Clint paced, the two of them turning over and mulling Redskull’s words.

_A soul for a soul. _

“How’s it going?” Clint gave a lazy salute, then chuckled humorlessly to himself, shaking his head. “Jesus… Maybe he’s makin’ this shit up.” He said to Natasha, walking in front of her as she rested her chin on her folded hands.

“No…” Natasha shook her head. “I don’t think so…”

“Why, ‘cause he knows your daddy’s name?” Clint quipped back, turning to look at Redskull.

“I didn’t.” Natasha said simply, staring at the ground. Clint looked back at her as she continued. “Thanos left here with the Stone… _ without _ his daughter… And that’s not a coincidence.”

Clint paused in his pacing, and said softly. “Yeah.” 

“... Whatever it takes.” Natasha said to herself.

“Whatever it takes.” Clint said, looking at Redskull, who waited at the edge of the cliff.

Natasha stood up quickly and rounded on Clint. “If we don’t get that Stone…” She said walking up to him. “Trillions of people stay dead.”

Clint nodded. “Yeah.” They both looked passed the cliff edge, and then back at the ground. “Then I guess we both know who it’s gotta be.”

Natasha nodded, dread settling in her stomach. “I guess we do.” 

Clint reached for her hand with one of his own, and she gripped it tight, sandwiching it between both of her half-frozen fingers. Clint looked at her, and she raised her head to meet his gaze. “I’m startin’ to think we mean different people here, Natasha.” Clint said, smiling sadly.

Every bone, every fibre in Natasha’s body started screaming at her at those words, that look. It _ had _ to be _ her. _ It _ needed _ to be her. No one else. This was her redemption, her chance to right all of her wrongs. And she needed to make Clint see that.

“For the last five years I’ve been tryin’ to do one thing to get to right here.” She shook her head, tears in her eyes. He _needed _to understand. Her, not him. Not Clint. “That’s all it’s been about, bringing everyone back.” “Oh, don’t you get all decent on me now.” Clint said teasingly, but the tear slipping down his cheek betrayed his casual demeanor. 

“What, you think I wanna do it?” Natasha responded in a slightly shaky voice. “I’m trying to save _ your _ life, you idiot.” Because he was. He was an idiot and she loved him _ so much, _ so badly that it, that _ this, _hurt.

“Yeah, well I don’t want you to, how’s that.” He said, putting his hands on her shoulders and squeezing gently. “Natasha… you know what I’ve done. You know what I’ve become.” He swallowed hard, and continued, looking like he was going to break down and start crying at a moment’s notice.

“Oh, I don’t judge people on their worst mistakes.” Natasha responded, echoing some of the first words he spoke to her. Another tear rolled down Clint’s cheek as he whispered. “Maybe you should.” Her response. All those years ago. And he had still held his hand out, and she still took it.

She nodded her head in acknowledgment, ignoring her own tears. “You didn’t.” 

They looked at each other for a long moment before Clint responded. “You’re a pain in my ass, you know that?”

She nodded, and Clint leaned forward, resting their foreheads together. She took a deep breath, grabbing her braid behind her in one hand, a knife in the other, and cut it off, pressing it into Clint’s hand and he stood back. “Okay.” Clint said firmly, looking down at the braid, then back up at her. “You win.” He smiled sadly at her.

No, not smiled.

_ Smirked. _

Before she could even process it, Clint had swept her ankles out from under her and slammed her into the ground, one hand still on her shoulder, the other holding her severed braid.

“Tell my family I love them.” He said, and _ that _spurred her into action. Reaching up, she hit the arm pinning her down by her shoulder, and flipped Clint over. She stood up and hit hit with a close range disc shocker from her Widow Bites.

“You tell them yourself.” She said as Clint arched his back in pain. Not too much though. She was already hurting him by doing this, but she would do whatever it took to make sure it was _ her _ at the bottom of the cliff. She started running, and turned away from Clint, she couldn’t see him pull the disc off his chest, or nock an explosive arrow that made her sprawl on the ground. She grunted in pain, holding her abdomen as Clint tossed his bow aside and made a beeline for the cliff edge.

_No no no no no no NO._ Using every ounce of strength she had, she hauled herself off the ground and dashed towards Clint, grabbing him in midair and activating a grappling hook.

_ His _grappling hook.

With a yelp of pain, they jerked to a stop as the grappling hook reached the end of its tether, and slammed into the cliff-face, and Clint fumbled for Natasha’s hand before gripping it tightly, looking down at his belt. “I can’t… _ Damn you _.” He spat, releasing his hold on the line to try and reach for her hand with both of his own. With a cry of worry and fear, he reached for the line again. His grip on her was slowly slipping away.

“Wait.” He said in a broken voice, crying. Natasha looked at the ground, and then back at his face.

“Let me go.” She said softly. She was sorry, so, _ so, _ sorry, but it _ had _to be her.

“No.” Clint insisted, shaking his head. “Please, no.”

Natasha swallowed hard, and whispered. _ “It’s okay.” _

"_Please.” _ Clint begged, and she had to do it _ now, _ before they _ both _fell.

Natasha pushed her foot against the cliff-face, curled in close and _ pushed _ back.

And out of Clint’s grip.

“No! **No!** ” He cried, watching her face, her mouthed _ “I’m sorry” _, tears streaming down his own face. He turned away from her as her body slammed into the ground, and when he looked back, her eyes were empty, glassy, and a halo of red the same shade as her hair was slowly spreading outwards over the ground she laid upon. 

The sky turned dark, lightning flashing across the sky. The sun was setting, and it always had been.

A bolt of lightning flashed across Clint’s face then…

Darkness.

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

Clint woke up in a pool of water.

He looked around blearily for a second before jolting up, maneuvering himself onto his knees, turning his head from side to side and breathing heavily. He felt his fists clench around something in each hand. In one, was Natasha’s severed braid, the red fading into blonde, strands soaked through.

In the other was the Soul Stone.

He did it. He had the Stone.

A small smile spread across his face before it quickly changed to a look of grief, a small sob escaping his lips.

_A soul for a soul. _

He punched the ground, splashing water into his face, and felt tears slide down his cheeks.

"_Whatever it takes.” _ Steve had said. And this is what it took. It had taken Natasha.

_Beep beep beep beep beep beep. _ Clint stared at his watch and slammed his hand down in anger, shrinking and being pulled through time for the fourth time that day.

Natasha was gone. But there were still others. Laura. Lila. Cooper. Nate. Wanda.

He had to save them. He had to bring the rest of his family back.

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

Natasha woke up in a field of snow.

She looked around blearily for a second before jolting up, maneuvering herself onto her knees, turning her head from side to side and breathing heavily.

She knew this place, these woods. She was back on Earth.

She was back in Russia.

There was no sound save for the howling of the wind, and the distant, muffled _ whump _ of snow clumps falling to the ground. She pushed herself to her feet, and began walking, searching for a place to stay, a shelter of sorts, while she contacted someone and got back to New York. She had no idea how she got there, or why. 

All she remembered was the cliff, falling, and then… 

Darkness.

Natasha looked around confusedly as she walked, yelling for Clint, for Steve, for _ anyone _ . She was still alive, somehow, and on a planet she didn’t die on. Nothing made sense, not time travel, not the Stones, not _ this, _ whatever _ this _ was.

She wondered if Clint got the Stone.

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

_ Avenger’s base, New York, 2023 _

Pietro tapped his fingers nervously against his leg. Any second now, and they would be back. It had only been five minutes, but it felt like some of the longest five minutes of his life.

_Whoosh _

As suddenly as they had left, the Avengers reappeared, their red and white time suits retracting off of them.

“Did we get them all?” Bruce asked worriedly. Pietro idly wondered where his shirt went.

“Wooo. Are you telling me this _ actually _ worked?” Rhodey said, holding a small, silver ball in one hand and grinning. 

Clint stepped down off the platform heavily, looking seconds away from screaming. Or crying. Or punching a wall. Or all three.

The others looked at Clint in concerned. And that’s when Pietro noticed it: Natasha was missing.

“Clint, where’s Nat?” Bruce asked. Clint didn’t respond, but a tear fell down his face. He looked up at Steve, and held up something in one hand as an explanation.

Red. Blonde. A tight braid, the one Natasha had stuck her hair in before she left.

Natasha wasn’t going to come back.

Steve looked down, hiding his own tear filled eyes from the rest of the group. Bruce fell to his knees, and punched the platform with one hand _ hard. _

Clint looked at the braid again, and then left the room, dropping a yellow stone in Tony’s hand as he passed him, clutching the braid against his chest as tears fell down his face. He did not slam the door, but its closing echoed all the same.

Clint had a funeral to plan.

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

Natasha walked through the woods, feeling tired and cold. Her short hair flew into her face, her mouth, her eyes. The wind blew in all directions, sometimes at her face, sometimes at her back or side. But it never stopped.

Natasha thought maybe that was the worst part of this whole situation. That the wind never _ stopped. _

She was cold. Very, very cold. But she _ needed _ to keep walking, keep moving. Frostbite and hypothermia were probably already kicking in for her, but as long as she kept moving, she would find a place to hunker down in until the storm blew over. Either that or she’d have to build a shelter of her own before night fell, which was looking more and more like a possibility.

To pass the time, Natasha sang. An odd habit, for her at least, but she couldn’t very well dance in snow and boots, so singing had to make do. She sang songs she heard on the radio, lullabies the girls in the Red Room used to sing to the younger ones, country songs that Laura used to get stuck in her head and hum for days at a time until the whole house had the same earworm.

Natasha smiled at those memories. If Clint had gotten the Soul Stone like she believed, they would come back. Laura, the kids. Cooper with his love of math, Lila with her quick wit, baby Nate with his odd food choices, Wanda and her shy smiles. All would be brought back.

She wondered if she would get to see it.

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

Clint walked out to the edge of the lake, a black box tucked under one arm. In it was Natasha’s braid, a rare picture of her smiling, and a small pearl bracelet she had pick-pocketed off a wealthy target on a mission once and gave to Clint jokingly as a present.

Clint set the box on the dock, standing next to it as Tony, Bruce, Thor and Steve walked out. All of them were wearing black. Pietro hung back a fair distance away, observing but not interrupting.

It was time for Natasha’s funeral.

“Do we know if she had family?” Tony asked. Steve swallowed hard and nodded. “Yeah. Us.” He said, wiping away a tear. Thor, who had been looking out over the lake, turned around and walked towards the group at those words.

“What?” Thor asked, looking confused. Clint felt a surge of anger at Thor’s indifference. Did he not understand at _ all? _ Natasha was _ dead. _She was dead, and her only family was right here on this dock.

“Huh.” Tony said, turning to look at Thor. “W-what are you doing?” Thor asked, looking at Tony, who said. “I asked him a question.” “Yeah, no, you’re acting like she’s dead, why are we acting like she’s dead? We have the Stones, right?” Thor said, his voice rising in anger and urgency as he continued. “As long as we have the Stones, Cap, we can bring her back, isn’t that right?! So stop this _shit, _we’re the Avengers, get it together.” Thor finished, snarling.

“We can’t get her back.” Clint spoke up, feeling oddly detached from the situation, not even realizing he had spoke until he had done so.

Thor gestured confusedly. “W-what?”

“Can’t be undone.” Clint said hoarsely, turning his gaze away from the box by his feet. “It can’t.”

Thor laughed, but it was not one of humor, rather, one of disbelief. “I’m sorry,” He said, not sounding sorry at all. “N-no offense, but you’re a very _ Earthly _ being, okay, and we’re talking about space magic. And it can’t seem very definite, don’t you think?”

“Okay look,” Clint began, holding his hands up slightly. “I know that I’m way outside my- my pay-grade here, but she still isn’t here, is she?” 

Tony took off his sunglasses as Thor spoke up again. “No, that’s my point.” “It can’t…” Clint said, feeling new tears well up as his voice shook. _“Be_ undone, or that’s at least what the red floating guy had to say! Maybe you wanna go talk to him, okay! Go grab your hammer, and you go fly and you talk to him!” Clint was at his breaking point. He had it up to here with Thor, with the Stones, with the _entire_ fuckin’ universe. Natasha. Was. _Gone._

Suddenly, he empathized with Pietro’s bout of rage earlier. He wanted to do what he first did when his wife and kids were taken from him. He wanted to scream, to rage, to _ die _ with the pain of it.

Had Redskull misspoke? Surely it was a _ body _ for the Stone, not a soul. If it was, they had overpaid. Two souls for one Stone. Natasha’s… and his.

Thor looked away, finally seeming to understand what Clint had known since he first saw the halo of red around Natasha. She wasn’t coming back. _ Ever. _

Another tear fell down Steve’s face, and Clint looked at everyone, voice breaking as he spoke. “It was supposed to be me.” An arrowed fired, a leap of faith into death’s arms. But Natasha was always the smarter one out of the two of them. He had just hoped to outsmart her just this once, when it mattered the most.

He took a breath, and continued. “She sacrificed her life for that goddamn Stone… She bet her _ life _ on it…” Bruce, who was on the very edge of the dock, grabbed a bench and hurled it into the water with an angry cry.

“She’s not comin’ back.” Bruce said, looking dejected. “We have to make it worth it. We _ have _ too.” 

Steve stood up. “We will.” He said simply. Clint bowed his head as he picked up the box and dropped it in the water, whispering. _ “Goodbye… Natasha.” _

The others echoed him. Even Pietro, who had only really known Natasha for two days. Even Rocket, who was one of the least caring people- raccoon- whatever that Clint had ever known, and who had come out with Scott and Nebula to pay their respects.

_ Goodbye, Natasha. Goodbye. _

Steve held Clint as he wept.

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

Natasha was _ tired, _ and she still felt cold, a chill that went bone deep, causing her teeth to clatter and her steps to falter. She had gotten bored of singing a while ago, her throat dry and her lips chapped from the bitter cold air, and was sure the echoing wind was saying something at this point. It sounded an awful lot like _ “Goodbye, Natasha. Goodbye.” _

Cheerful. Reassuring.

Natasha grit her teeth to keep them from chattering too hard and continued walking forward in the field of snow. Tree were few and far between now, but she didn’t have the energy to turn herself around. If push came to shove, she could always make a dig-out of snow. 

But for some reason, she couldn’t force herself to stop and take a break. It was _ important _ somehow that she didn’t stop, that she kept moving forward.

So, despite her aching limbs, ice covered lashes and pounding head, that’s what she did.

She kept moving forward.

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

Clint and Pietro sat together in silence, just outside of the room Tony, Bruce and Rocket were working in. Tony was making a Gauntlet for the Stones, and soon, if everything went according to plan, they would have their families back. Well, almost all of their families, anyway.

Pietro kept looking at Clint like he had a question to ask, but kept thinking better of asking and turning his head away.

“Spit it out, kid.” Was Clint’s only response to the behavior. Pietro bit his lip for a second, bouncing his leg on the ground before stilling completely and turning to Clint with a serious look on his face.

“Did it… you know, did it hurt?” He asked quietly.

“Did _ what _ hurt?” Clint snapped, then immediately wished he could take it back when he saw the hurt that flashed across Pietro’s face.

“When they…” Pietro took a deep breath, seeming to steel himself before asking. “When they died. My sister. Your Natasha. Did it … hurt them?”

_Your Natasha. _ Clint heard those words in his head over and over again as he tried to think of an answer. He never even heard his family cry out. And Natasha… there was no way anyway could survive a fall like that for _ any _ length of time.

“No, Pietro.” Clint concluded quietly. “I don’t think they were in any pain at all.”

Pietro nodded, as if this was the answer he was wanting. Clint realized it was the only mercy he could give to the kid, and to himself. They weren’t in any pain when they died. That, at least, had been granted to them.

Bruce walked out quietly, knocking on the wall. “Um, we’re finished.” he said, jerking a thumb to the room behind him, and Clint and Pietro stood up quickly. “We’re gonna go get everyone else. This… this is it.” 

Pietro nodded. “Let me get the others.” He insisted. “I’m the fastest and they’ll want to hear it in person.” And since no one could argue with that, he took off.

Not ten minutes later, everyone had been rounded up and gathered in the room, all circled around the Gauntlet. Rocket held it in his hands (paws?) as it was suspended in midair, held in place by Tony’s tech.

“Alright, the glove’s ready.” Rocket said, apparently satisfied with whatever he was checking. “Question is, who’s gonna snap their freakin’ fingers?”

“I’ll do it.” Thor volunteered, walking up to the Gauntlet.

“Excuse me?” Clint said as Thor held up a hand. “No, no, it’s okay.” “Hey, hey stop.” Steve said, reaching out and grabbing Thor as Tony went; “Woah, woah, woah. Stop. Wait.” “Thor, just… wait.” Steve said. “We haven’t decided who’s gonna put that on yet.”

“I’m sorry, what we’re just going to be sitting around waiting for the right opportunity?”

“We should at least discuss it.” Scott said to Thor, who just gestured to the Gauntlet and said; “No, no, sitting here and staring at that thing is not going to bring everybody back.” Thor took a deep breath. “I’m the strongest Avenger, okay, so this responsibility falls upon me.”

Tony interjected and began arguing with Thor, who continued talking. “And it’s not that, shhhh, stop it! Just let me.” Thor grabbed Tony’s hand and held it between both his own. “Just let me do it.” Thor whispered, pleading. “Just let me do something _good, _something right.” “Look, it’s not just the fact that that glove’s channeling enough energy to light up a continent, I’m _telling _you, you’re in no condition.” Tony said firmly. 

“What do you think is coursing through my veins right now?” Thor inquired.

“Cheez-whiz?” Offered Rhodey. Thor threw a look of disgust at Rhodey before turning back to Tony. _ “Lightning.” _He said reverently.

“Yeah.” Tony whispered back as Thor repeated the word _ “Lightning.” _

“It’s gotta be me.” Bruce said somberly from the back of the room. “You saw what those Stones did to Thanos, they almost killed him.” He shook his head as he walked forward. “None of you could survive.” “How do we know you will?” Steve asked.

“We don’t.” Bruce responded. “But the radiation’s mostly gamma. It’s like… uh… “ Bruce shook his head and looked at the Gauntlet. “It’s like I was meant for this.”

Bruce picked up the Gauntlet gingerly.

“Ready to go, yeah?” Tony said quietly. Bruce raised an eyebrow. “Let’s do it.”

“Do you remember,” Tony began urgently. “Everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago? We’re just bringing them back to _now_, to today. Don’t change anything from the last five years.” Bruce nodded. “Got it.” Steve stepped forward, cowl covering his face and holding his shield. Pietro snapped his axe braces back onto his forearms. Scott tapped a button on his chest, and his helmet encased his face, while Rhodey’s mask clanged shut, the eyes of the suit filling with a light red light. Rocket snapped his goggles onto his face as Thor held an arm behind him to shield Rocket, gesturing and coaxing Rocket behind him. Tony tapped his arc reactor, his suit enveloping his body and a large opaque blue shield appearing in front of him, and Clint nocked an arrow. Bruce nodded at all of them once they were fully prepared. He was ready. “F.R.I.D.A.Y, do me a favor and activate Barn Door Protocol, will you?” _“Yes Boss.” _F.R.I.D.A.Y responded as thick metal plates closed over the doorways, the skylights above them, and the windows. The whole facility was on lockdown.

“Everybody comes home.” Bruce held the Gauntlet up to his hand, and it expanded and enlarged to better fit him. Everyone watched, nerves on end. As soon as the Gauntlet was on Bruce’s hand, lights began pouring out from the Stones, and Bruce sunk to his knees with a grunt of pain. The lights shot up his arm, which Bruce was holding with his other hand, groaning in pain. An odd, almost_ alien _ sounding _ whirl-whirl-whooshing _ noise came from the Gauntlet, and Bruce’s face contorted in pain.

“Take it off. Take it off!” Thor cried, rushing forward, but Steve cut him off. “No, wait! Bruce, are you okay?”

Bruce tried to respond, but the only thing that came out was another moan of pain.

“Talk to me, Banner.” Tony said urgently. Bruce flexed his hand a few times before weakly responding while nodding his head. “I’m okay, I’m okay.”

Thor gave two cautious thumbs up and stepped back, Rocket peering over his shoulder. Pietro hovered near Clint, who looked as anxious as Clint felt.

Bruce took several deep breaths, steeling himself, before raising his arm up, crying out in pain, and _ Snap! _

Bright light filled the room, and Bruce’s eyes rolled to the back of his head as he fell to the ground unconscious, the Gauntlet sliding off his now charred, blackened arm.

_Was that how easy it was? _ Clint wondered, kicking the Gauntlet away as the others rushed to help Bruce. _ To take away my family, to take away half the _universe?

“Bruce!” Steve cried, kneeling beside the man in worry. “Don’t move.” Tony held one gloved hand over Bruce’s withered arm, a thin stream of ice flowing from his gauntlet and onto the wound. Weakly, with his non-injured arm, Bruce reached for Steve’s hand and held on to it. Thor patted his forehead gently.

“Did it work?” Bruce asked worriedly.

“We’re not sure, shhh, shhh, it’s okay.” Thor said quickly over Bruce’s moans of pain. Tony lifted the Barn Door Protocol and Scott slowly, quietly, stepped out of the room. Clint looked behind him, one hand still tightly clenched around his bow, as he heard a _ buzz! Buzz! _ sound coming from the table, his phone ringing. Who would be calling him? 

Unless… 

Clint took a deep breath and broke off from the rest of the group, and looked at his phone in shock.

There, on the screen, the most beautiful name he had ever seen. _ Laura. _

Clint felt himself shaking slightly, a hundred emotions coursing through him as he picked his phone up and, for the first time in five years, answered his wife’s call.

“Hun?.. hon…” He said shakily. _ God, _ he had missed her, his kids. They were back. Scott from the other room said disbelievingly. “ _ Guys… _ I think it _ worked.” _

Bruce opened his eyes at that. They had done it. They had brought everyone back.

Then, Bruce’s eyes widened in shock, and before a word or a cry of alarm could escape him… 

  
_Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! _

Someone in the sky was firing at them.

The facility was under attack.

Scott flew back, hitting his _ shrink _ button as the windows he was standing in front of exploded. Pietro dove underneath a table, and Clint heard an explosion behind him before the whole building _ tilted _and dropped, sending him careening down a hole. He hit the ground painfully hard, and blacked out.

Clint came to his senses only a few moments later, huffing and grunting in pain. Debris fell off him, and everything_ hurt. _He made his way groaning to his feet, and made sure his hearing aids were still in his ears, which they were. Small mercies. He activated a flashlight on his wrist and shone it upwards out of the hole he fell into. “Cap?!” He cried. No one responded.

“‘M not Cap, but I _ am _ someone.” A voice down the tunnel said. Clint looked at the Gauntlet that had fallen down the hole with him…. And then Pietro, bathed in the red light illuminating the tunnel, and clutching his side, wincing slightly in pain. He walked over to Clint as he pushed some rocks off the Gauntlet… then heard a noise behind him. Holding a hand up and gesturing for Pietro to stop, he nocked an arrow and whirled around, firing it.

What he saw as the arrow flew past the source of the noise were _ Outriders, _angry, growling things. Clint looked at Pietro and the two of them started running down the tunnel, Clint scooping up the Gauntlet as they leapt over debris and through shallow puddles. The beasts leapt off the walls and over broken rocks, in full pursuit.

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

Night hadn’t fallen yet, but Natasha felt _ sure _that it should’ve by now. The wind blew as consistently as ever, and her lips bled small droplets of red from how cracked and chapped they were. The only thing she had to drink was snow, but that was a bad idea. Everyone who was anyone and valued their life out in a freezing tundra like this melted the snow first, not shoved it in their mouth.

At this point, despite knowing better, Natasha was tempted to do so anyway. Anything to ease the dry burning in her throat. The wind drew stinging, hot tears from her eyes and they froze on her cheeks. She was cold, so, _ so _ cold, but she couldn’t stop moving. She _ couldn’t. _There had to be an end, a point to all of this.

She sighed, and trudged on. 

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

Tony looked around in a daze, blinking slowly in shock. The facility was in ruins, when minutes ago it had been a pristine, state-of-the-art compound. To his left was Steve’s shield.

And no Steve.

Heaving himself up to his feet, he picked the shield up and strapped it onto his arm. This thing was a weapon, yes, but also one-of-a-kind, a work of art. And it was Steve’s preferred weapon of choice. Making sure it wasn’t lost somewhere in this mess was essential for when he found the man behind the shield.

Huh. Guess that didn’t work now, seeing as how the shield was on _ his _ arm, not Steve’s. But Tony would be able to rectify that soon enough. 

Glancing around, he let out a sigh of relief as he spotted Steve on the ground, covered and surrounded by debris, chest moving up and down sightly. He shakily made his way over, and kicked Steve’s leg.

“C’mon buddy, wake up!” He said urgently. Steve’s eyes opened and he took a deep breath. Good. Great. Captain America was alive and awake.

“That’s my man.” Tony said, happier than he thought at the sound of at least having Steve by his side in all of this, holding the shield up in clear view of Steve. “Lose this again, and I’m keeping it.” Morgan always wanted a sled for the stairs, improvising with large bin lids and cardboard boxes instead. She’d lose her mind at the thought of getting to stair-sled with_ Captain America’s shield. _

Steve moved his head from side to side, taking in their surroundings and situation. “What happened?” He gasped.

“You mess with time, it tends to mess back. Let’s see.” Tony said grimly, trying not to think about what that might mean for Pietro. Right now, he had to _ find _ the kid, and everyone else, _ before _he could worry about any more time anomalies.

With one hand, he grasped Steve’s forearm firmly and hauled him up to his feet. They walked over to Thor, who was standing at a ledge out in the open with his back to them, and Tony handed Steve his shield back. They emerged from underneath the rubble and stood at Thor’s side, looking out over what had only minutes ago been a carefully manicured lawn, and was now a poster-child for a post-apocalyptic wasteland. It took them a minute to see what Thor was staring at, but when they finally noticed, Steve and Tony’s breaths caught in their throats.

Because there, sitting on a rock, and large double-sided blade at his side, was Thanos. _ Alive. _

“What’s he been doing?” Tony asked sharply. Thor shook his head slightly. “Actually, he’s done nothing.” Thor said softly. Disbelievingly. Because Thanos was _ back. _ They had killed him, severed his head from his body, and now he was _ back. _

_Just can’t catch a break can ya? _Tony wondered in the back of his mind.

“Where are the Stones.” Steve asked, not tearing his gaze away from Thanos. Tony gestured to the entirety of the field below them vaguely. “Somewhere under all this.” He looked at Thor, then back at Thanos. “All I know is he doesn’t have them.” And the plan from here on out would be to keep it that way.

“So we keep it that way.” Steve said, echoing Tony’s thoughts.

“You know it’s a trap, right?” Thor said to them. Tony turned to look at him. “Yeah,” He said indifferently. Thanos needed to be _ stopped _. “I don’t much care.” 

Thor nodded. “Good…” His eyes started to glow, and a clap of thunder was heard in the distance. “Just as long as we’re all in agreement.” Storm clouds started gathering over them, flashes of lighting breaking free and striking across the sky, then struck down onto and around Thor, who summoned Mjolnir and Stormbreaker. When the lightning cleared up, Thor was in battle armor, hair and beard braided back from his face. 

“Let’s kill him_ properly _ this time.” Thor exclaimed, staring determinedly at Thanos, who finally looked up… and stared back.

The three of them looked at each other, and then stepped off the ledge.

It was time to face off against Thanos. Again.

And this time, they would win. _ No matter the cost. _

**“You could not live with your own failure.” ** Thanos began lowly, addressing them as if he had all the time in the world to just do whatever he pleased. “ **Where did that bring you?” **Tony lead them forward, Steve on his left and Thor behind them both. 

**“Back to me.” ** Thanos concluded, bowing his head. He looked up at them. **“I thought by eliminating half of all life, the other half would thrive. But you’ve shown me…” ** Thor crept around a mound of wreckage, staring at Thanos with hate in his eyes. **“... That’s ** ** _impossible. _ ** **And as long as there are those who remember what was, there will always be those that are ** ** _unable _ ** **to accept what ** ** _can _ ** **be. They will… resist.” **Thanos turned his gaze onto Tony, who stared back unfalteringly. “Yeeep, we’re all kinds of stubborn.” He said firmly.

**“I’m thankful.” ** Thanos said, tossing aside a rock he had been fiddling with. **“Because now… I know what I must do.” ** He finally stood up, looming over them. **“I will shred this universe down to it’s last atom…. And then…” ** He pulled his helmet off his blade and stuck it on his head. **“With the Stones you’ve collected ** ** _for _ ** **me…” ** Steve looked disbelievingly at Thanos. **“Create a ** ** _new_ ** ** one, teeming with life…” ** He pulled his blade out of the earth. Any second now, and shit would hit the fan. **“That knows not what it has lost, but only what it has been given.” ** Tony clenched his jaw, running through tens, hundreds, _ thousands _ of fighting techniques and combinations. Thor’s eyes lit up with lightning again, which sparked and crackled around his hammer and axe. **“A grateful universe.”** Thanos concluded. 

Steve glared at him. “Born out of blood.” He pointed out.

**“They’ll never know it.” ** Thanos said softly. Tony did _ not _ like that look in his eyes. **“Because you won’t be alive to tell them.”**

Oh. Hell. _No._ With a mighty cry, Thor charged forward, lightning surging across and around him, Tony snapped his helmet on and made a large blade of his own from nano-tech, the two weapons clashing together when they met as Steve’s shield ricocheted off of Thanos. Tony shot his repulsors at Thanos, who knocked Steve back with his sword and kicked Thor back and away.

The fight was on.

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

Clint and Pietro ran from the beasts as they slammed into walls and snarled at them. Pietro worked quickly to scout ahead and clear a path for Clint, who held the Gauntlet firmly under one arm. With the other, he pulled arrows from his quiver and forced them into the walls.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _

** _Boom._ **

With a cry of pain, Clint only_ barely _ managed to dive down different tunnel off to the side as the arrows exploded. Pietro, who had dashed ahead of Clint, ran back and helped him to his feet as the surviving beasts of the explosions burst through the flames. Clint activated a grappling hook on one arm, hooking it onto his belt, grabbing Pietro around the waist, and shooting upwards. Pietro ran up the walls as Clint pulled his sword out and sliced at the beasts, who all fell back to the ground dead. Clint heaved himself over the edge of the drop, and laid on his back, waving a worried Pietro off as he panted. From in front of him, he heard footsteps, and lifted his head up.

“Oh hey….” Clint said weakly, handing the Gauntlet over to Nebula. Man, it was a _ relief _ to be rid of that thing. “I know you.”

Nebula put her hand on her eyepiece. _ Oh good. _ Clint though weakly. _ She’s calling for backup. _

“Father… I have the Stones.” Nebula said.

_Wait, what?! _

“What?!” Clint said confusedly as Pietro’s face drained of color. Nebula stomped a foot on Clint’s chest, waving a gun between Pietro and Clint.

_“Stop.” _An unfamiliar voice cried. A green woman, dressed for combat, held her gun steadily at Nebula, who took her foot off of Clint’s chest and stepped around him, pointing the gun at his head. 

“You’re betraying us.” Nebula said darkly. Suddenly… Nebula stepped out of the shadows, holding her hands up. In front of Clint.

Right. Time travel. Can bring people back. And also forward.

Clint took this opportunity to roll onto his feet, grab a confused and slightly terrified Pietro, and hide out of sight of the “evil” Nebula.

“You don’t have to do this.” Nebula, the Nebula Clint_ knew, _ said in a pleading tone.

“I _ am… _ this.” Past Nebula said.

“No.” The green woman said. “You’re not.

Nebula tapped her eyepiece. “You’ve seen what we’ve become.” Past Nebula had tears in her eyes as she looked at the green woman, whose hand was no longer steady but shaking. “Nebula, _listen _to her.” She insisted.

“You can change.” Nebula said softly to her past self. The green woman lowered her gun, and Past Nebula gave her a small, sad smile, shaking her head. “He won’t let me.” She said. Past Nebula pointed her gun at the green woman, then:

“No!” _Bang! _Nebula had pulled out her gun… and fired at her past self. Past Nebula had a large hole in her chest, revealing sparking wires inside. Clint knew that Nebula was mostly machine, but he had never really considered what that had fully meant until he looked at her wound. Nebula lowered her gun as her past self slide down a wire fence, sinking to the ground slowly. A single tear fell from her past self’s cheek, and she moved no more.

Clint stood up warily, an arm behind him, shielding Pietro as he went to pick the Gauntlet back up. Nebula nodded at the two of them, then the newcomer (_ Her sister, _ Clint realized) and pointed down a tunnel.

“Quickest way out is that way.” Nebula said, not looking at her own corpse. “So let’s get moving.”

“Uh, yeah.” Clint said in agreement, checking over Pietro. Yup. Still alive. Still good. “Let’s get moving.” 

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

Tony landed on the ground, his suit expanding to the hexagon back repulsors as he shouted “Okay Thor, hit me!”

Thor let out another warcry, calling down lightning from the sky and using both Mjolnir and Stormbreaker to charge up Tony’s suit. As soon as the extra boost in power had hit Tony’s systems, he fired eight repulsor blasts at once at Thanos; six from his back and two from his gauntlets. Thanos spun his blade around and around, trying to fend off the power attack from Tony. Behind him, Thor threw Mjolnir into the air and used Stormbreaker to bat his hammer at Thanos, who grabbed Tony and used his_ body _as a shield. Tony got hit full-force in the chest with Mjolnir and flew back, suit still sparking with bolts of lightning, rolling across the battlefield and smacking his head against a pile of rubble, falling unconscious… almost. He felt like he was floating. Was he unconscious?

_ "Boss wake up!” _ F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s panicked voice cried out. Man, when he had asked Thor to hit him, he did _ not _ mean like that.

Steve watched Tony go down and ran at Thanos, leaping up and back to kick him in the face, bringing his shield up as he landed. Thanos punched the shield _ hard, _ sending Steve sprawling back, flying through a mound of ruins and landing heavily on his abdomen, the wind knocked out of him. 

Thanos then threw his blade in an arc as Thor ran up to him, Stormbreaker crackling with lightning, and the two weapons clashed together. Thor managed to throw the blade behind him, but it was only a second later that Thanos disarmed Thor as well, grabbing Thor by the neck and slamming him into a mound of rubble with a look of anger and hatred. 

Thanos punched Thor twice in the face, before picking him up and slinging him across the battlefield again, slamming his foot down _ hard _ on Thor’s chest and punching him in the face again. Thor weakly lifted his hand up and summoned Stormbreaker, but Thanos intercepted it before it could fly into his hand, and began slowly pushing the axe into Thor’s chest, who did his best to fend him off. Blood dripped down Thor’s face as he grunted, using all of his strength to hold Thanos off, who smiled darkly at Thor.

Steve rolled onto his knees, scanning the battlefield, and looked up in a daze. In the distance, he saw Thanos attempting to murder Thor with Stormbreaker, trying to push the axe into the center of his chest, and _ that _sent him onto his feet. Not knowing if it would still be true all these years later, Steve held out his hand and his breath… 

… And Mjolnir flew into his hand.

Quickly, before the Mad Titan could notice him, Steve threw Mjolnir _ hard _at Thanos, knocking him onto his side, and called the hammer back. He swiftly caught it, and stared at Thanos with a look a grim determination, feeling a surge of power and strength sweep through him. Was this what is was like to wield Mjolnir? If so… Steve wished he had picked it up all those years ago.

Steve readied himself into a battle stance as Thor grinned and laughed. “I knew it!” He said hoarsely. 

Thanos turned his attention back to Thor and kicked him again, effectively and brutally silencing the God, before facing Steve and slowly making his way towards him. Steve winded up Mjolnir as he charged forward, slamming the hammer into the underside of Thanos’s chin. As Thanos flew back, dropping his blade, Steve threw his shield at Thanos, with knocked it higher into the air with his sword, then struck it midair with Mjolnir and causing a soundblast to knock Thanos, who was trying to advance onto Steve, back onto his knees.

Steve leapt at Thanos, calling back his shield and Mjolnir as he knee’d Thanos in the chest, then kicked him in the leg and smacked him in the face with first his shield, then twice with Mjolnir. He flung the shield at Thanos’s exposed throat, then threw it again, this time smacking it with Mjolnir for extra damage. The shield flew back onto Steve’s arm as he instinctively summoned lightning and directed it through the ground, then up to Thanos, who cried out in pain as he was struck and forced onto his back. Steve thrust his arm into the air as he had seen Thor do countless times before, calling _ power _ down from the skies and hitting Thanos with strong bolts of lightning. He then ran and leapt at Thanos, aiming Mjolnir at his head, but the Titan moved before the hammer could make its mark.

Thanos grabbed Steve by the neck and slammed him onto his back, and Steve quickly rolled out of his grip and away. Thanos pulled his destroyed helmet off his head and grabbed his blade, swinging angrily at Steve, who dodged the attacks, using his shield to block the blows, but Thanos manage to land a cut on his thigh, and Steve cried out in pain. He threw the arm holding Mjolnir forward, and Thanos dropped his sword and caught it, squeezing tightly and throwing first Mjolnir and then Steve back. Thanos kicked his sword back into his hand, and brought it down _ hard _ onto Steve’s shield. Instead of bouncing off, as all other weapons had before… the blade embedded itself into the edge of Steve’s shield.

_ Oh. **Shit. ** _

Steve ripped his shield out of the hold it was in, a chunk flying off as he did so. Thanos struck his shield again, and it broke even more.

_No, no, no! _ Steve thought desperately, angrily. This was his _ shield, _ the one weapon that had time and time again saved his life, had _ never _ faltered or broke. If it was breaking now… 

_No! _Steve shielded himself from one blow, then another, then another, and another, each strike breaking the shield down further, until he was on the ground with only half a shield left. Thanos hit him with the blade with an upwards blow and a cry of anger, sending Steve flying back again. 

He rolled over onto his back, feeling exhausted. The surge of power and strength from Mjolnir earlier had left him, and the cut on his thigh _ burned. _

With some of the greatest effort it had ever cost him, he opened his eyes, grunting in pain and forcing himself onto his knees, forehead pressing into the dirt. 

**“In all my years of conquest… violence… slaughter…. It was never personal.” **Thanos said. Steve grunted and gasped in pain as he listened. 

_Yeah, well, this _ feels _ personal. _ Steve thought, looking angrily at Thanos, who just looked away and continued. **“But I’ll tell you now…” ** Thanos looked back at Steve. **“… What I’m about to do to your stubborn, ** ** _annoying _ ** **little planet… I’m gonna enjoy it. Very, ** ** _very_ ** ** much.”**

Behind Thanos, a beam of blue shot down from the large ship in the sky, and five figures appeared on the ground. Even from a distance, Steve knew who they were: Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, Ebony Maw, Supergiant and Black Dwarf.

The children of Thanos had arrived to the battle… and right behind them were entire _ squadrons _ of soldiers, fleets of fighters, walls of warriors.

Pillars dropped down from the ship and sank into the earth, and massive, armored beasts were brought forth and released, hundreds of smaller but no less dangerous ones sprinting across the battlefield.

Steve took a deep breath. He _ forced _ himself first onto his knees, then his feet, panting and swaying as he stood and faced off against Thanos and his army. With a shaking hand, he tightened the strap on his shield.

If he was going to go down, he was going to go down giving it every-damn-thing he _ had. _

Chitauri ships flew out and over the field, and Steve eyed them as he limped forward. No one else stood by his side. No one else was with him.

Once again, he was going to die alone, this time for good.

He took a deep breath, and continued to march forward. This was it. This… was the end. The Final Battle.

And he was going to lose.

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

A man stood in Pepper’s kitchen, and she threw a pan at him.

Well, _ standing _ wasn’t the right word. It was more of a hovering, a red clock flared out behind him.

“Miss Potts- no, my apologizes, Mrs. _ Stark, _ I need you to suit up and come with me _ now. _” He paid no mind to the pan, simply waving his hands in an odd motion and letting it fly through an orange portal of sorts.

His accent was British, and his clothes were more like a cosplayer’s from a Dungeons and Dragons game then an actual uniform or gear of sorts. Two identical streaks of white hair lay at his temples, and as Pepper took in his appearance and his abilities, she suddenly had an epitome.

Red clock. Floating. Orange portals.

Stephen Strange was in her kitchen.

Tony had done it. He had brought them _back. _ Doctor Strange didn’t seem to realize that she knew who he was, if his sigh was any indication. “Here.” He said, opening another, much larger portal, a familiar figure stepping out. “Maybe this will help you understand.”

It was Peter Parker.

“Hey, uh, hey Miss Potts! I’m uh, I’m back, and this is all _ really _ weird… hey, do you know where Mr. Stark is?” Peter said, smiling up at her. Nothing about him had changed since she last saw him, save for the fact that he was now in the suit Tony had made for him should he accept the offer to become an Avenger.

And he had. Peter was an Avenger.

Pepper stood still in shock for a second before she rushed forward and hugged Peter tightly. “Oh, uh thanks, Miss Potts.” Peter said, somewhat awkwardly hugging her back. A small smile tugged at her lips as she smoothed Peter’s hair down. “It’s Mrs. Stark now, honey.” She informed him out of habit, but she didn’t care much about her name. Peter was back. And that meant that everyone else was too. Tony had done it.

“Oh, okay. Mrs. Stark.” Peter corrected. Doctor Strange nodded. “Time to leave now, Parker. ” He opened another portal as Peter waved goodbye and ran off to join a small group of people in the distance, and Doctor Strange nodded at Pepper. “Suit up.” he repeated. 

So she did. 

Running out to Tony’s workshop, she grabbed her nano-tech arc reactor, the one labeled _ “FOR EMERGENCIES _ _ ONLY _ _ ” _ in Tony’s messy handwriting. She grabbed her undersuit from underneath it and quickly changed out of her loose sweater and yoga pants and into the undersuit, placing the arc reactor in its slot on her chest. The suit formed over her, the helmet encasing over her face and then retracting.

“Mommy?” A voice behind her said quietly. _ Morgan. _ “Oh _ shit.” _ She said, mostly to herself.

She _ couldn’t _ leave now. She couldn’t leave her baby alone by herself. She turned around and looked at Morgan, who was chewing on a leaf, and let out a small sigh of relief when she saw Happy standing next to her. He looked up at her, then down at Morgan. “I’ve got the kid.” He said reassuringly.

Of course he did. He had always been there for Morgan, since day one. Baby-proofing the house before she was even _ born, _ teaching himself how to change diapers alongside Tony, crying as he held her for the first time. 

Happy was here, and he was going to take care of her kid. And she was going to save the world.

Doctor Strange stepped out of a portal next to her, nodding in approval. “Ready?” He asked. Pepper held up a hand and knelt down, hugging Morgan tightly.

“Mommy, why are you in your superhero suit? Are we finally gonna play Avengers in _ the _superhero suits?” Morgan asked excitedly. Pepper stroked her hair. “No, hun.” She said to Morgan. “Mommy’s off to save the world.” 

Morgan, to her credit, simply nodded at that. No tantrums, no fuss. “Can you bring me back a souvenir from ‘save-the-world?’” She asked, pulling the leaf from her mouth and popping it back in. Pepper took the leaf gently from her grasp and chuckled, tears filling her eyes. “‘Save the world’ isn’t a place hun.” She kissed Morgan’s forehead. “But sure, Madam Secretary, I’ll try.”

“Okay mommy.” Morgan said, and that was that. She hugged Morgan one last time, then straightened up and hugged Happy as well. “Be careful, Pepper.” He said, looking about as close to tears as she felt.

“I will.” She said, and then Doctor Strange was opening a portal and explaining the plan and Pepper was left to wonder if she would ever see the two of them again.

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

Steve looked out over the field. This was it. No take-backs, no do-overs.

And no help.

_ Dying in battle isn’t such a bad way to go _Steve thought darkly.

Suddenly, his earpiece sparked to life. His first thought was _ Tony. _ But the voice that came out was one he hadn’t heard in _ five years. _

_ “Hey Cap, you missed me?” _

Sam. It was _ Sam. _He looked up, as if expecting to see Sam fly across the sky in his wings, guns in hand and a smirk on his face. 

_"Cap, it’s Sam. You hear me?” _Steve reached up for his earpiece, hardly daring to believe it, about to respond when Sam spoke again just as a whizzing noise was emitting from behind him.

_"On your left.” _And he turned to look behind him. An orange circle was hanging suspended in midair, widening to touch the ground, and three figures stepped out.

Okoye. Shuri. And T’challa.

The Gauntlet had _ worked. _ They were _ back. _

Steve felt like he could, for the first time in five years, nine, eleven, a _ lifetime, _ breath again. He nodded at T’challa, unable to speak, and T’challa nodded back. Sam flew out of the circle in a large arc, and as Steve followed him with his eyes, he saw dozens more circles, _ portals, _opening around him.

Thanos had an army. But Steve had one too.

He saw Doctor Strange, a woman with antenna on her head, and a gray man with red tattoos step out of a portal, ready for battle. A man with a mask on flew out as well, smacking the side of it with his hand and staring determinedly out over the field. A fifth figure swung out on a thin rope.

No. Not rope. _ Web _. The mask retracted, revealing a young teenager.

It was Queens. Spiderman. Tony’s kid.

Steve smiled. 

“Yibambe!” T’challa shouted, and his soldiers echoed him. “Yibambe!”

Helicarriers and Quinjets flew out of the higher portals, and Bucky and Groot walked out of a second portal of Wakandan soldiers.

Bucky. _His_ _Bucky._ He was _here._

Steve felt a tear fall down his face as he continued to take in his army. Brunnhilde and her steed, warriors from across the galaxy, Korg holding a gun, Wanda, hands and eyes burning red, standing next to Pietro, the Masters of the Mystic Arts and their weapons, Hope van Dyne, appearing- no, _ growing _out of midair, Pepper Stark landing in front of them in the stance that Tony so often took.

Thor summoned Stormbreaker, getting back onto his feet and wiping the blood from his face. Tony looked at his wife in awe, standing up and looking at the horde of people prepared to _ fight. _

“Is that everyone?” Strange said curtly to Wong.

“What, you wanted _ more?” _Wong replied, shaking his head in disbelief. 

Scott, in Gi-Ant Man form burst up from the ground, kneeling down and releasing three people from his hand: Rhodey, Bruce and Rocket, who jumped onto Rhodey’s shoulder and cocked his gun.

Across the portals, warcries and chants could be heard. Steve turned back to face Thanos, who stared at the Avengers in shock and disbelief.

“AVENGERS.” Steve yelled, looking out over the field. Everyone stood at his side. Everyone was with him. And he was _ not _ going to die.

This was it. _ This _… was the end. The Final Battle.

And they were going to _ win. _

Steve summoned Mjolnir as Thor landed behind him.

“Assemble.” He said determinedly, locking eyes with Thanos from across the battlefield. Thor let out a cry, followed by T’challa and echoed by everyone as they all charged forward.

Pietro ran just below and to the right of Wanda, who flew over the battlefield alongside Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, who had Rocket on his back, Hope, Strange, Sam, Quill, and Brunnhilde. Peter swung from person to suit to the Quinjets that flew past Gi-Ant Man, Steve and Thor leading the warriors on the ground. Thanos lifted his blade, and his troops surged forward as well, the gap between the two armies shrinking rapidly until they met in the middle. Steve threw Mjolnir at Corvus Glaive while Thor struck Stombreaker into the ground, sending bolts of lightning down the center of the opposing forces, and Pepper kicked a beast in midair, slamming it into the ground. All around them, everyone was fighting, flying and holding their respective lines, weapons firing everywhere, dust and dirt clogging up the air, which was heavy with the scent of metal and fire.

The battle had begun.

Scott punched an entire Chitaui ship into the ground as Bruce picked up one of Thanos’s soldiers and threw him into the air. T’challa kicked another soldier to the ground, Okoye wielding her spear behind him and Shuri was not too far off, sending blasts into the thicket of the beasts. Korg worked with the Drax in bringing down a giant Outrider, and Pepper and Tony worked back to back in taking down ships.

Thor and Steve fought off Outriders and aliens, Steve using the remaining half of his shield as best he could. He threw Mjolnir as Thor threw Stormbreaker, and when he held his hand back out, they had switched weapons.

“No, no, no.” Thor insisted, tossing Mjolnir at Steve, who caught it as he tossed Stormbreaker back at Thor. “Give me that. You have the little one.” Thor jumped off into another cluster of aliens, and Rocket shot down those who tried to occupy the space Thor had been only seconds before. Bucky and Tony shot at Chitauri, until Tony got thrown back by a heavy blow from Black Dwarf. Laying on his back and struggling to get up, Tony fired his repulsor blasters rapidly as Dwarf went in for a devastating blow. Before he could reach Tony however, he was pulled back and away from him, and then crushed under Scott’s foot. Tony looked up to see who his savior was.

It was Peter Parker.

Peter jumped underneath Scott’s leg, closing the distance between himself and Tony in one bound. “Hey! Woah. Woah.” He said breathlessly, helping Tony up. “Holy cow, you will _ not _believe what’s going on. Do you remember, when we were in space, and I got all dusty?” 

Peter was rambling in his explanation, and Tony could only stare at him. Peter was _ here. _ His kid was _ here. _ Back. Alive. Peter was unaware of Tony’s shock as he continued on. “An-and I must’ve passed out, because I woke up and you were gone, but Doctor Strange was there, right, and he was like “It’s been five years! Come on, they need us!” And he started doing the yellow sparkling thing that he does all the time;” Peter held up his hands and moved them in a circle to demonstrate as Tony took one step, then another forward and flung his arms around Peter. “What are you doing?” Peter asked, hugging him back slowly. _ God, _ Tony should’ve done this _ years _ ago. Why didn’t he do this years ago? He held onto Peter tighter and kissed his cheek. Peter was solid, was _ here. _

And Tony was going to keep it that way. No matter the cost.

“Oh, this is nice.” Peter said, and Tony silently agreed. _ Yeah kid, it sure is. _

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

Natasha picked up a stick she stumbled over and looked at it.

Long. Thick. Sturdy. A perfect crutch for her to lean on as she hiked through the snow. She longed for warmth, instead of the icy chill that went down to her very core. If she was at least _ warm, _or had a way to warm herself up other then “continue moving” this journey would be a hell of a lot easier.

The trees were back now, and thicker than before. Somehow, the wind still didn’t relent, even under the cover of the spruces.

The sun hadn’t set, and Natasha dimly wondered if it ever would.

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

Clint ran through the battlefield, Gauntlet tucked under his arm securely as he was pursued by a giant beast. He had called for help only a few seconds ago, but he doubted anyone was going to be able to tear themselves away from whatever battle they were already engaged in long enough to help him. So he kept running.

Out of nowhere, Sam flew over him and knocked the beast to the ground swiftly, driving the tips of his wings into the beast’s chest and killing it. Hallelujah! His prayers had been answered.

Clint spared Sam a grateful glace as he pushed his hearing aid and the earpiece strapped to it firmly back into his ear. “Cap, what do you want me to do with this damn thing?!” He asked, leaping over a pile of rubble.

“Get those Stones as far away as possible!” Steve shouted into his earpiece, fighting something Clint could only hear.

“No!” Bruce insisted. “We need to get them back where they came from.”

“No way to get them back, Thanos destroyed the Quantum Tunnel.” Tony said quickly and tensely.

“Hold on.” Scott said, and Clint heard a _ zoop! _ And saw Scott shrink down until he disappeared. “That wasn’t our only time machine.” And clicked something.

From somewhere on the battlefield, a janky sounding horn rang out.

Clint heard Steve running as he knelt behind a Chitauri and stabbed it through the back. He had enough of them eleven years ago and he had enough of them now.

“Anyone see an ugly brown van?” Steve asked through the comms.

“Yes! But you’re not going to like where it’s parked.” Brunnhilde responded.

“Scott.” Tony began quickly. “How long you need to get that thing working?”

Scott hesitated. “Uh, maybe… ten minutes.” 

“Get it started, we’ll get the Stones to you!” Steve said, and Clint heard him run off. He guessed his mission was to find the ugly brown van and get the Stones to Scott then. So that’s what he did.

“We’re on it, Cap.” Hope said. Good. Great. They had a plan. They had… twelve percent of a plan.

From across the field, Stephen Strange summoned dark purple stands of light, ensnaring several beasts and trapping them into the dimension below.

Tony flew up to him, and landed heavily. “Hey,” He said quickly, wanting, _ needing _ confirmation that this was going to work, that he had done the math, that it all checked out. “You said one out of fourteen million we win, yeah? Tell me this is it.”

“If I tell you what happens.” Strange said, looking Tony in the eye. “It won’t happen.”

Tony looked back, and then around the field before responding. “You better be right.” And then, to his comms. “Everyone, I’m having F.R.I.D.A.Y. send you my coordinates.” He said, flying into the air, scouting for a place the plan. “I’m hosting a dinner party, I expect you all to be there.” He dove into a small sheltered hole, more a trench, really, and waited.

First, in a blur of blue and red came Pietro and Wanda, who was being carried in Pietro’s arms. When he set her down, they sank to the ground, hugging each other tightly. Tony looked up as a shadow passed over his face and heard a cheery “Hey, Mr. Stark!” As Peter landed in front of him, followed closely by Pepper and Sam.

Next came Shuri, who slid quickly into the hole on her legs, firing both her panther-shaped vibranium blasters at a lone Chitauri trying to sneak into the trench.

“Woah.” Peter said in awe as he watched. Steve jumped into the hole, followed closely by Rocket and Groot. Another shadow passed overhead, this time it was Bucky, who miscalculated his jump and landed squarely on top on Steve instead of next to him, sending the two crashing into the ground. Steve didn’t seem to mind. In fact, as soon as Bucky tried to stand up, Steve pulled him back down by the front of his vest and kissed him firmly.

“Missed you.” Was all Steve said, but just those two words had Bucky grinning like crazy. “Missed you too, punk.” And he kissed Steve back. Tony grinned and quickly looked back at Peter, slapping a hand over his eyes. “Not in front of the baby!” He said over Peter’s protests of “I’m _ not _ a baby, Mr. Stark, I’m sixteen!”

“Leave them alone, Tones.” Rhodey said as he landed next to him, Nebula disembarking off his back. “Why should I? Can’t have them 69’ing in front of my kid, can I?” Tony quipped back. Peter turned bright red and squeaked. “Mr. _ Stark!” _

Honestly, it was _too easy._

Steve and Bucky finally got back to their feet, gripping each other tightly. Tony nodded at them and turned to face everyone else. “Alright Avengers, listen up.” He said in a business-like tone, making sure the comms were open and broadcasting his words to those on the battlefield. “We need to return the Stones _back _to where and _when_ they came from ASAP. Lang and van Dyne are setting up a time machine as we speak, and they’ve estimated that ten minutes will be needed to set it up. Your mission, therefore, is to keep Thanos and his army distracted while this is happening. Get the Stones to them, hold back the line, and wait until the Stones have been returned.” “And then what?” Asked Shuri, shooting down another beast with Rocket’s help, while Peter formed a web canopy to keep falling debris from smashing them into superhero pancakes. Steve shoot a bolt of lightning at a horde of approaching Outriders while Bucky and Sam aided with their guns. _Honestly,_ Tony wasn’t asking much here. Just that they pay attention as Tony laid out the details of the most important plan of their lives. No biggie.

“Then we take down Thanos.”” Tony said simply, getting straight to the point. “And we kill him. No hesitation.” “This is the fight of our lives.” Tony and Steve said in unison, nodding at each other.

“Well then,” Rocket said, reloading his gun. “Let’s go kill that crazy sonnova bitch!” Everyone in the trench cheered, and ran out, Pietro scooping Wanda back into his arms and speeding off, Peter shooting a web onto the left leg of Tony’s suit as Tony flew up into the air alongside Rhodey and Pepper, and Steve and Bucky climbing out of the hole, Bucky taking a running start at the remainder of Steve’s shield and jumping onto a Chitauri glider.

Clint ran through the battlefield, slicing at the beasts blocking his path and wondered how much pain one’s legs had to be in before they cramped up and stopped working forever. He dodged and rolled to avoid attacks, shooting a small missile behind as he looked out and saw a horde quickly approaching him, and he knew it was to much to ask that they would ignore him.

_Boom! _ A figure clad in black and glowing purple landed a few feet away from Clint. T’challa’s mask retracted as he addressed him. “Clint, give it to me.” He said, and Clint was all too happy to comply, handing T’challa the Gauntlet and quickly nocking and firing an arrow at a beast sneaking up behind Okoye.

T’challa ran through the hordes of people and aliens alike fighting, dodging bullets and lasers and repulsor blast, kicking and using his energy blasts from his suit to clear a path in front of him.

_Bang! _ A large blade, taller than any man, flew through the air and slammed into T’challa, knocking the Gauntlet out of his grip. It landed back into Thanos’s hands, and before either of them could deliver another blow to each other, a silvery blue and reddish streak shot in front of two of them. 

Wanda and Pietro Maximoff.

Wanda only barely touched the ground, hands and eyes bright red. Pietro clashed his axe blade cuffs together, standing beside his sister, eyes glowing blue.

“You took….” Wanda said in a dangerous, shaking voice as she looked at Thanos angrily. _“Everything_ from me.” She finished as Pietro clashed his blades together again.

**“I don’t even know who you two are.” **Thanos replied, looking confused at the two of them. Wanda and Pietro shared a look, and then stared back at Thanos determinedly. 

_"You will.” _They said in unison. Wanda levitated huge mounds of rubble behind her, and Pietro struck Thanos’s blade with his axes. Thanos threw Pietro back just as Wanda threw the piles of ruin at Thanos, landing in front of him and throwing handfuls of red magic at him, Piero running back up to Thanos to once again try and hinder the Titan. Wanda and Pietro fought together seamlessly as T’challa got up and ran to the Gauntlet, which was being pulled upwards from the earth by a strange looking man. T’challa leapt at the Gauntlet and grabbed at it, gasping as the earth started encircling and squeezing the air out of him.

“I got it!” A voice above T’challa yelled, and he wasted no time tossing the Gauntlet upwards as the Spider-kid (Spider-man?) caught the Gauntlet in a web and swung off, kicking a Chituari down and saying into his suit. “Activate Instant Kill!”

The eyes of his suit glowed red and four long metal legs shaped like spider legs popped out from the back of Peter’s suit, each one ending in a sharp point. They stabbed at the snarling beasts that tried to take Peter down, who did his best to keep them back.

Thanos knocked Pietro back with a heavy blow of his blade and then swung it downwards towards Wanda, who caught it with her magic and held it in place as she kneeled backwards. Thanos tried to force the blade even further down, but Wanda only gave him a wicked grin and, with one powerful swing upwards, the blade was snapped in half. She grabbed Thanos and levitated him, as well as several large rocks, into the air as Pietro got back on his feet, tearing the armor off of Thanos slowly.

** "****Rain fire!” **Thanos shouted as he groaned in pain. Pietro ran around the area, taking down hostiles with his axe cuff and super-speed as Wanda tore Thanos apart.

“But sire!” Corvus Glaive cried. “Our troops!” 

**“Just do it!” **Thanos yelled. The ship above them suddenly had dozens of strange looking guns emerging from the hull, all glowing bright blue and firing below.

Wanda let out a cry of pain and shock as one shot only _ barely _ missed her, causing her to fly in the air and drop Thanos.

“Wanda!” Pietro cried, rushing forward and catching her, curling his body over her own to protect her from the blasts and explosions. An orange shield was constructed above them by a person wearing brown, red, and black robes.

Pietro held onto Wanda, and she held onto him as the world around them exploded.

~~*~~

“Uh, is anyone else seeing this.” Pepper said worriedly into the comms. Several of the shoots from the ship had hit where the lake was, and the battlefield was slowly starting to flood.

Doctor Strange turned around, several bands of orange circling his arms as he waved his hands, causing the waster to spiral upwards instead of onto the field.

“I got this. _ Urgh _… I got this. Okay, I don’t got this.” Peter concluded as he started being overtaken by beasts. “Help! Somebody help!”

Steve looked at where Peter was being overrun by Outriders. “Hey, Queens,” He said into his comms. “Heads up.” And he flung Mjolnir at Spiderman, who shot a web at the hammer and was pulled from the thicket of beasts. Peter clutched onto the Gauntlet tightly as he soared through the air, before the web connecting him to Mjolnir was severed from a blast above, dropping Peter down to the ground. He dropped the Gauntlet for a brief moment and it clanged against the ground as Peter was once again pulled upwards.

“Hang on, I got you.” Pepper said to Peter. She threw him at Brunnhilde, and Peter flipped through the air before landing on the back of her pegasus, the Gauntlet now being held by one of his spider legs.

“Hey, nice to meet yo-OH MY GOD!” Peter yelled as Brunnhilde and her pegasus tilted back far enough to almost send him slipping off to avoid the blasts raining down upon them. An explosion behind them caused Peter to fly through the air again, and he fumbled for the Gauntlet as he fell, spider legs inverting inwards and creating a cage of safety for Peter as he rolled on the ground and got up, running towards the “ugly brown van” as Captain America had described it.

_Boom! _A shot landed directly in front of Peter and sent him sprawling back, the Gauntlet slipping out of his grip as he wrapped his arms protectively around his head and yelped in surprise, the entire ground around him getting hit by blasts and forcing huge amount of dirt and dust into the air.

People all around were yelling and ducking for cover, ears ringing and ground shaking.

And then, just as suddenly as it had started, the firing stopped. Everyone got to their feet cautiously as the guns changed from firing downwards to into the sky.

“What the hell is this?!” Sam asked, flying out from under a canopy shield.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y, what are they firin’ at?” Tony asked.

_ "Something just entered the upper atmosphere!” _ F.R.I.D.A.Y responded, which only confused Tony further. What, or _ who, _ could it be?

The answer to Tony’s thoughts came in the form of a fireball headed directly towards Thano’s ship, crashing into one end and bursting out the other.

The guns on the ship instantly dropped, dead and useless.

“Oh-ho, yeah!” Rocket cried.

Carol Danvers had arrived to the party.

She flew back at Thanos’s ship, flying through the center of it and leaving explosions and fire in her wake. The ship fell into the water with a mighty _ thiud! _

Thanos stared at his destroyed ship in shock. No one, _ no one _ could destroy such a state-of-the-art warship like that. This newcomer… was unlike _ anyone _ he had encountered before.

“Danvers, we need an assist here.” Steve said into his comms. “Look for a person in a spider-suit holding a large red glove, and whatever you do, _ don’t let Thanos get it _ . _ ” _

“On it.” Carol replied and scoured the area, until… _ there. _

She flew down and dropped to the ground in front of a kid with a nosebleed holding a large glove, just as Rogers had described.

“Hi, I’m… Peter Parker.” He said breathlessly, eyes darting around nervously.

“Hey, Peter Parker.” Carol responded conversationally. “You have something for me?”

Peter got to his feet gingerly, looking out at the quickly forming wall of enemies.

“I don’t know how you’re gonna get it through all of that.” He said anxiously, handing over the Gauntlet to Carol.

“Don’t worry.” Wanda said, landing behind them as Pietro sped off, assisting Clint in taking down a large beast. 

“She’s got help.” Okoye said, lifting her spear up defensively. Pepper landed in front of them, helmet retracting from her face. All around them, warriors walked up and around Carol, each one prepared to defend the Gauntlet with their lives. Shuri cocked her blasters and lead them forward as Hope appeared and flew in the air, Nebula and Gamora walking grimly alongside them all. Wanda sent a blast of red at the foremost soldiers, Pepper, Tony, and Shuri using repulsors on the Chitauri. Gamora cleanly sliced at a beast as Okoye stabbed and killed another one by impaling it with her spear.

Wanda held back and slowly crushed a Chitauri Leviathan with her magic as Brunnhilde tackled the other one, stabbing her sword deep into the side and forcing it down in a trail of purple light.

Carol flew through several bases, one right after the other, holding on tightly to the Gauntlet as she left a trail of explosions behind her. The van was within her sights. All she had to do was fly past Thanos.

Easy enough.

She soared through the air, Thanos now wielding a new, unbroken blade. Shuri, Pepper and Tony all fired at Thanos, knocking him back and causing him to roll over multiple times, losing his hold on his blade. He quickly grabbed at again and threw it at the Quantum Tunnel in van just as Carol was only _ feet _ away from it.

The van exploded, and Carol crashed backwards through the air, the Gauntlet slipping out of her grasp and onto the field.

Tony threw a dead beast off of him as he stared in shock at the Gauntlet on the ground in front of him. He rushed forward at the same time as Thanos, knocking him to the side and taking a brutal blow to the chest. Thanos reached down for the Gauntlet again, just as Thor leapt down and started beating him back with Strombreaker and Mjolnir. Thor tried to pick up the Gauntlet, but Thanos grabbed Thor again, and he was forced to swing Strombreaker at Thanos, calling Mjolnir back and locking the two weapons together, forcing Thanos to his knees. Thor roared angrily, eyes filled with lightning, and Steve took a running leap at Thanos’s back, locking his arms around his neck.

Suddenly, Thanos drove his elbow back at Steve, who loosened his grip around his throat, and headbutted Thor, knocking him to the ground. Thanos reached behind him and grabbed Steve’s head, flinging him forward and punching him squarely in the face. Thanos crawled forward and grabbed the Gauntlet as Carol flew down and kicked his knee, punching him across the face. Thanos swung at Carol, who flew up to avoid the blow and hit Thanos again. She lunged, reaching for the Gauntlet, but Thanos pulled it back and grabbed her arm in one hand as he swung her around and tossed her carelessly into the dirt, sliding the Gauntlet onto his hand.

The Gauntlet and the Stones lit up once again as Thanos groaned in pain, lifting his arm up to bring his fingers together to snap, when suddenly Carol flew back up and knocked his hand back down, grabbing onto the Gauntlet and holding it open, staring at Thanos fiercely. Thanos strained and struggled against her hold, and shot forward, headbutting her.

And Carol. Didn’t. Even. _ Flinch. _

She flew up, more enraged than ever before, still holding the Gauntlet open with one hand as she forced Thanos onto his knees, pulling her arm back and preparing to deliver a devastating blow to Thanos.

Thanos looked at the Stones on the back of the Gauntlet and quickly plucked the Power Stone out from its slot, holding it in his free hand as it glowed and powered up. Carol’s eyes widen in shock as Thanos swung forward, using the full strength of the Power Stone to knock her far away from him.

~~*~~

Tony lifted his head off the ground, sucking in a pained breath as he locked eyes with Strange, who was still holding the water back with his powers. Strange slowly lifted a hand up and held up a single finger, a look of regret and apology clear on his face.

And Tony knew what he had to do.

Thanos slowly held the Power Stone over the Gauntlet, hand shaking as it flew back into its slot, and he threw his arms and head back in pain as once again he prepared to wield the Gauntlet.

Tony ran up to Thanos and grabbed the Gauntlet, struggling as Thanos tried to pull his arm out of Tony’s grip. Thanos knee’d Tony in the chest and then backhanded him, forcing Tony to let go as he was thrown back.

Thanos readjusted the Gauntlet on his arm, as Tony had managed to loosen it slightly, and looked at the Gauntlet and then back to Tony as he spoke.

**“I am… inevitable.” **Thanos said triumphantly, and he held his fingers together and … 

_Snap! _

… Nothing. Happened.

Thanos looked back at the Gauntlet in shock, turning it over to look at the Stones.

Or rather, where the Stones _ were. _

Thanos looked back at Tony… and the Stones he wielded. Tony lifted his arm into the arm, gasping in pain as the Stones were activated, and he stared into the face of the man, of the _ monster, _ who had been haunting him for _ eleven years _now.

“And _ I…” _ Tony said, gasping and panting as he felt the full power of the Stones course through him. “Am… _ Iron Man.” _

** _Snap!_ **

~~*~~

Rocket fired desperately at a Chitauri Leviathan as it opened its mouth to swallow him whole and then….

Dust. It was nothing more than dust.

All around the battlefield. Thanos’s army was slowly disintegrating before their eyes, a mirror of five years prior when it had been _ them _ disappearing.

Thanos stared around himself in shock. His army, his _ children, _all dying. All gone. Steve turned to Thanos with a look of muted victory. 

Thanos stumbled for a moment before he sat down heavily on the stone he had first sat upon when he had first arrived to Earth, feeling shaken and _ pained _ to his very core. He… He had _ lost. _

A light breeze washed over him… And Thanos was no more.

Tony stumbled to a small covering, in more pain then he had ever thought was imaginable. He lowered himself to the ground, feeling pain shoot up his damaged arm and face as he collapsed.

He coughed and tilted his head up, holding his side, smiling. He had done it.

_Whatever it takes. _

_Whatever it takes. _

_Whatever it takes. _

And this is what it took.

Rhodey landed near Tony, helmet retracting as he walked towards him and crouched down. Rhodey reached out, and cradled Tony’s hand in one armored hand, trying to hold back tears and falling.

Peter swung down off a helicarrier and landed just behind Tony and Rhodey. When he saw the former, his breath caught in his throat and tears welled up in his eyes. “M-Mr. Stark.” Peter said, voice trembling as he walked forward to his mentor. Rhodey stepped back slightly as Peter knelt down in front of Tony.

“H-h-hey, Mr. Stark…” Peter voice shook so _ badly _ as he held onto Tony’s hand, and Tony squeezed back, holding their joined hands over his chest. “Y-you h-hear me?” Peter asked, terrified, and it was all Tony could do to give a slight nod of his head. “It’s P-P-Peter… “ As if Tony could _ ever _ forget that voice, that face. Peter took a shaky breath before continuing. “Hey…” He said softly. “ We won… Mr. Stark. We won, Mr. Stark.” Peter repeated, and clenched his jaw. “We won, you did it sir, you did it.”

_We won. We won. You did it. _

Tony did it. They had won.

Pepper pulled Peter away with gentle hands as Peter let out a sob. “I’m sorry… _ Tony.” _

The kid _ never _ called him Tony. _ Ever. _

_God, _ everything hurt, everything was _ wrong. _ They had won, but the kid, _ his kid, _ was crying and calling him _ “Tony” _ instead of _ “Mr. Stark” _

Tony remembered a time when once _ begged _to kid to call him by his first name. Now, he could live with hearing “Mr. Stark” for the rest of his life, if that’s how the kid was going to say his name.

Like Tony wasn’t ever going to hear him say it again. Like Peter _ needed _ him to hear it, just once.

Pepper knelt in front of him, face twisted with grief as Rhodey put one hand on Peter’s shoulder.

_ "Hey Pep…” _Tony whispered weakly. Pepper stuck her hand over his arc reactor, and he gently lifted his non-injured hand up and placed it over hers.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.” Pepper said- no, _ asked. _

_"Life functions critical.” _F.R.I.D.A.Y responded. Tony gave a small, sad smile to Pepper. This was it. Part of the journey is the end, and Tony had reached the end of his. Tears filled his eyes, with caused a fresh wave of pained grief to wash over Pepper’s features.

“Tony.” Pepper began, and Tony’s head tilted to the side. Everything _ hurt, _ and he felt like he was floating. “Look at me.” Pepper asked and Tony _ forced _ himself to turn his head and look back at her. Over her shoulder, he could see Thor and Steve approaching them, and the rest of the Avengers were right behind them, all wearing expressions similar to Pepper’s.

“We’re gonna be okay.” Pepper reassured him. Steve and Thor were now only a few feet behind Rhodey and Peter. Thor held Stormbreaker, and Steve held Mjolnir. “You can rest now.” And Tony could_ hear _ the pain in her voice.

_You can rest now. _ She had said. To him. He could rest. His family was going to be okay. 

He could rest now. 

~~*~~

Thor bowed his head, unable to look at Tony’s ashened, blackened face… and saw Mjolnir hanging limply in Steve’s hand.

And Thor remembered, all those years ago, when he had nearly died in New Mexico and the hands of the Destroyer. Mjolnir had saved him then. And Tony… he was worthy. This sacrifice of his had shown Thor that Tony _ was _ worthy. Mjolnir had the power to bring back those on the brink of death. It would save Tony now.

“Cap, _ Steve…” _ Thor pleaded, turning to him. A tear fell down Steve’s face as he looked at Thor. “I can’t- I can’t save him Thor… No one can.” Steve said quietly.

Steve was right. No _ one _ could save Tony. But Mjolnir was not a person. It was an object, a weapon of great power and strength. “Give me Mjolnir. _ Please.” _ Thor pleaded. They were running out of time. Any second now, Tony would draw his last breath, and then he would be gone… forever.

Steve looked at Mjolnir, then Thor. “Why? What are you going to do?” He asked softly, handing the hammer to Thor.

“I’m going to save Tony.” Thor responded, walking forward despite Steve’s soft protest of “Thor…”

Thor knelt next to Pepper and Tony, getting lifting Mjolnir up so that they both could see it.

“This hammer,” Thor began quickly. “Saved my life when I was on the brink of death twelve years ago.” He pressed it gently into Tony’s hand, the damaged one that was resting on the ground, and continued. “It will save you now Tony.”

He stepped back and gently peeled Pepper away from Tony. If this was to work, and it_ would, _he needed to ensure Pepper’s safety. For Tony’s sake.

Tony took a deep breath…

… And _ lifted _Mjolnir.

A flash of lightning struck Tony, and when the light cleared, Tony was still sitting on the ground… but he was _ healed. _No trace of the Stones’s mark was left on him at all.

“Woah… “ Tony said softy, looking between Mjolnir and Thor in shock. “That worked a _ treat.” _

Pepper, Peter and Rhoday all let out sobs of joy as they rushed forward and enveloped Tony in a crushing hug. Steve and Thor were pulled in to join as well by Peter and Pepper respectively, and all over the battlefield cheers and cries of victory could be heard as people hugged one another, helped one another up in celebration.

The battle was over, and they had _ won. _

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

Steve, Sam, Bucky, and Bruce were all outside, standing in front of the Quantum Tunnel Tony had whipped up in between trying to reunite everyone and answering calls and making sure everyone got medical attention for whatever wounds they had sustained in the Final Battle. It had only been a few hours, but Clint was still flying back over with his family, and Tony’s kid’s aunt was driving over to the house.

Bruce opened the case holding the six Stones as he addressed Steve. “And remember… You gotta return the Stones to the exact moment you got ‘em, or you’re gonna open up a bunch of nasty alternative realities.”

“Don’t worry, Bruce.” Steve said as he closed the case. “I’ll clip all the branches.”

“You know… I tried.” Bruce said somberly. “I really tried to bring her back… I miss her, man.”

“Me too.” Steve said in agreement, sighing and walking off to the Tunnel, Sam beside him.

“You know, if you want, I could come with you.” Sam said as a helicopter in the distance helped clear away a destroyed building. Steve turned to face Sam.

“You’re a good man, Sam.” He said. “This one’s on me though.”

Bucky stood in front of him, and Steve walked up to him, smiling. “Don’t do anything stupid until I get back.”

Bucky smirked and shook his head fondly. “How can I?” He said. “You’re takin’ all the stupid with you.” He hugged Bucky tightly, then kissed him.

“It’s gonna be okay, Buck.” Steve said as he pulled away, stepping onto the platform of the Quantum Tunnel and activating his time suit over his stealth one.

Sam looked slightly nervous. “How long is this gonna take?” He asked Bruce.

“For him? As long as he needs. For us? Five seconds.” Bruce replied, powering the Tunnel up. Steve picked up Mjolnir with his free hand.

“You ready, Cap?” Bruce asked, and Steve nodded in response. “Alright, we’ll meet you back here, okay?” Steve nodded again.

“Meet you back.” He said, and his helmet encased his face.

“Going Quantum in three… two… one… ”

Bucky and Sam looked at Steve as Bruce flipped the final switch. The Quantum Tunnel lit up, and Steve was gone.

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

Natasha was leaning against a tree, sitting on the ground, and she wondered if she would be able to stand back up.

She was _ cold, _and tired, and she wanted to rest. 

Rest. That sounded nice. Only for a moment though, she had to keep moving.

She closed her eyes.

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

_ Vormir, 2014 _

Steve hiked up the mountain, case in one hand, Mjolnir in the other. His broken shield was strapped to his back, and he was on high alert. Clint had told him nothing attacked them on the way up, but the whole place still set him on edge.

He got to the top and paused, sucking in air. The snow fluttered softly around him, and if it wasn’t for the fact that this had been the place where Natasha died, Steve would almost say it was… peaceful.

Almost.

**"****Welcome.” **A voice behind Steve boomed. Steve went from observing his surroundings to a battle stance in a mere moment, dropping the case on the ground behind him and grabbing the shield off his back while spinning Mjolnir around.

“Who are you?” He demanded. He couldn’t see anyone, and that only set him on edge even further.

**Consider me a… guide, to you, or an old acquaintance if you will…. Steven, son of Sarah.”**

A shadowed, hooded figure floated forward.

Redskull.

“What are you doing here?” Steve demanded angrily, in shock. “I killed you, I killed you _ years _ago.”

**“Ah… That is where you are… ** ** _mistaken, _ ** **son of Sarah. I was not killed by the Tesseract, rather, I was… ** ** _banished _ ** **here.”**

Steve looked at Redskull dubiously. “For what reason?” Steve asked hesitantly.

** "****To guide others to a treasure I cannot possess.” ** Redskull said simply. **“And now, you have come to return that treasure, no?”**

Steve looked at the case, then back at Redskull. Suddenly, an idea struck him.

Clint had said that the Stone was worth a soul. Why couldn’t the Stone be worth a soul? 

“No.” Steve responded. Redskull looked confused. “**No?” **

Steve stared Redskull down. “You said to Clint and Natasha,” He began, feeling a wave of grief hit him as he spoke her name. “That the Stone was worth a soul, right? A soul for a soul.”

Steve paused before speaking again as Redskull confirmed his words. “I’ve come to bargain. The Stone, for Natasha Romanoff’s life.”

**“That is-”** Redskull begun in protest, but Steve cut him off. “I’ve fought you before, Redskull. And I’ve done a lot of fighting in the just the past day alone, enough for a lifetime, really. But I’m ready to fight you again if I have to, and we both know how last time turned out.”

Redskull looked stunned. Steve guessed that no one had ever really tried to give him this much trouble over _ returning _ the Soul Stone.

Then again, only two attempts to _ get _ the Soul Stone had been successful before.

Redskull collected himself before responding. **“The soul you seek…” ** He said slowly. **“May have… moved on by now, as all others before her have.”**

Steve shook his head. “Not Natasha.” He said. Natasha would have known to keep fighting. It was in her blood. She never stopped fighting. _ Ever. _

Redskull looked at Steve, and then sighed. **“I can drop you off to the approximation of where she would be ** ** _if_ ** ** she is still there.”**

“Good. Great.” Steve said quickly, annoyed by Redskull’s lack of faith in Natasha. “Do it now.”

Redskull held up a hand. **“Do I have your word that, whether or not Natasha Romanoff can be pulled back to the mortal plane or if she is gone forever, you will return the Soul Stone to me upon your return?”**

Steve took a deep breath. Years ago, hell, _days_ago, if someone had asked him if he thought that he would make a deal with Redskull himself, he would’ve thought they were telling a sick, twisted joke.

Yet here he was. Using time travel to bargain for the life of one of his closest friends on an alien planet, and with a man he had ‘killed’ over seventy years ago, no less.

Steve nodded. “You have my word.”

Redskull smiled. **“Then… Good luck, Steven, son of Sarah.”**

Steve smirked back. “And good luck to you, Redskull, son of… a _ bitch.” _

Probably not the best thing to say to someone who held not just your’s but someone else’s fate in their hands as well, but Steve couldn’t bring himself to care, _ especially _when he saw the look on Redskull’s face.

Redskull looked absolutely _ livid _ as he waved a hand over Steve, and everything went dark.

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

Natasha sucked in a shaky breath, She was lying in the snow, her hair a half-frozen halo of red around her head. Her limbs were stiff, her movements jerky.

She was dying. Again.

She huffed out a breath, her chest seizing up slightly. No one was coming for her. No one was here.

She was going to die alone. This time, for _ good. _

_"Natasha! NATASHA!”_ The wind was calling her name again. It had only whispered it before, but now it was practically _howling_ her name.

Come to think of it, the wind sounded an awful lot like Steve. She opened her eyes, but couldn’t find the strength to lift her head up.

It would be nice to see him again. It would nice to see _ anyone _again.

_“_ _NATASHA!” _

_God, _ she was tired. She squeezed her eyes shut again and took another shuddering breath. She wanted to sleep. Somewhere _ warm, _preferably. With a fire. And blankets.

Sleep sounded nice right now anyway, even _ without _ warm blankets and fires.

“Natasha?! Oh, _ god, _Natasha!” 

With the greatest effort it had ever cost her, Natasha opened her eyes again. There, running full speed at her, was _ Steve. _ Steve was _ here. _

Steve skidded to a stop by her shoulders, spraying snow over her chest. “Oh, _ god, _ Natasha.” he breathed, sliding a hand under her shoulders and helping her into a sitting position. “What _ happened?” _

Warm. She was warm now. She was dreaming, she _had_ to be, or at least she felt like she was. This couldn’t possibly be real. She twitched her stiff fingers slightly, trying to pull her gloves off. She wasn’t cold anymore. She wasn’t warm, either. She felt like she was burning up.

“No, no. You’re not burning up, Nat. You’re _ freezing.” _Steve insisted.

Had she spoke aloud? She didn’t think she was speaking. She didn’t even think she was _ alive _ at this point.

“You are, Nat, I promise you’re alive. _ Jesus, _ you’re cold.” Steve said, sliding a jacket and a time suit out of one of his pockets. The time suit enveloped her body and Steve placed the jacket over her shoulders.

_Ohhh, _this was nice. This was a nice dream. Steve coming to save her. Warmth. She took another shaky breath as Steve scooped her up.

“Not a dream, Natasha. I’m real, I’m right here. Promise.” She felt something drop onto her lap. “Hold this for me, will you?”

She gave a weak hum of acknowledgement and closed her fingers around a warm handle.

“I’m gonna get you out of here, yeah? Just stay awake Nat, c’mon. Stay with me here.”

She hummed again, and coughed weakly. Warm blood dripped down her chin, and she heard Steve mumble worriedly to himself.

“Just stay with me, okay? It’s gonna be okay.” Steve said reassuringly. “Thanos is gone. You did it. You helped us win, Nat. Now you gotta stay alive to celebrate with us.”

Celebrate. Celebrations were rare, subded. Saved for birthdays or Christmas only, or a quiet round of drinks if a particularly difficult mission went well.

It would be nice to celebrate something.

Steve shifted her in his arms. “Hold on tight.” He warned. So she did.

And darkness overcame her for the second time that day.

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

Steve and Natasha appeared in front of Redskull, who looked at the two of them in shock. He composed himself quickly, and straightened up.

**“Well, Steven? We had a deal, no?” **Redskull said.

Steve huffed and shifted Natasha in his arms, settling her on the ground gently. “Yeah, we did.” He sighed. Steve looked at Natasha. With her braid chopped off and all the blonde gone, she almost looked like she did when they first met. “Gonna need you to le-” He stopped short when he saw what Natasha was holding.

Not the case. She was holding _ Mjolnir. _

At this point, Steve shouldn’t have been shocked. Hell, at this point, _ every _Avenger should be able to wield the damn thing.

Steve smiled at Natasha and lifted Mjolnir off her lap, setting the briefcase on a rock, opening it, and pulling out the Soul Stone.

“What do I do with this?” Steve asked Redskull, who pointed at the edge of the cliff. **“Drop it.” **He said. 

“What- just like that?” Steve asked in confusion. Redskull gave Steve a look of disdain. **“Yes. Just like that.”**

Steve narrowed his eyes as he slowly walked over to the cliff edge and dropped the Stone. It winked in the light as it fell, hitting the ground and causing a blinding white light to burst up from where it landed. 

**“It is done.” **Redskull said simply. Steve nodded, then walked back to Natasha, pulling out the spare Pym particle vial he had on him and attached it to her suit, fixing her watch to send her back to the Tunnel.

“Natasha, I’m gonna send you back now, okay? I’ll be right behind you when I return, and we’ll get you some help, alright?” Steve said, buttoning up the jacket over the suit. Natasha moaned softly in response, and weakly nodded her head. She shook like _crazy, _teeth chattering uncontrollably, head on her chest. Steve placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Natasha. Look at me,” He said gently. Natasha lifted her head up slightly. “It’s gonna be okay.” She nodded again, a little stronger this time. Her watch started to beep rapidly, and before she could even blink, her suit had shrunk her down and she was being pulled forward in time.

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

Clint lowered the Quinjet to the ground as Tony walked briskly out his front door to greet them, one arm holding Morgan, the other holding a phone up to his ear. Clint knew Bruce and Steve were going to be returning the Stones around this time somewhere on the property, and he wondered if they had finished up yet. 

“Dad, how long are we gonna stay here?” Cooper asked, lifting Nate up onto his hip. Lila and Laura grabbed their bags, and Clint stepped away from the controls to help. 

“Oh, probably a few days at most, kid.” Clint replied, ruffing Cooper’s hair up despite his protests and kissing both him and Nate on the forehead. Clint was still in a state of disbelief. His family had only been back for a few hours, and he was still trying to process it all. Saving Pietro, researching, collecting the Stones, bringing back his family, the _ universe, _losing Natasha- that had been hard to explain. He had cried several times during his short recap, and the ride after had been an unusually sober one.

To try and take his mind off it, he lifted a bag out of Laura’s hands and pecked her on the lips. “Lemme get that for you, hun.” He said, shouldering it with ease. Behind them, Lila mock-gagged, and Cooper shielded Nate’s eyes. “Not in front of the baby!” 

Oh, how Clint had _ missed _ this. 

He grinned as he pulled away, and Tony strolled up the ramp, pocketing his phone. “What’s up Robin Hood? Your band of Merry Men- and _ Women,” _ Tony tilted his head at Lila and Laura. “-Get here alright?” He finished, shifting Morgan, who was trying to snatch the sunglasses off his face. “N-no, _ honeypot, _ daddy needs his glasses.” Morgan giggled and pulled them off of Tony’s face- and subsequently threw them onto the ground. Lila grinned and picked them up, handing them back to Tony. 

“Ah, thank you.” Tony slid the sunglasses back onto his face. “Alright, if you’ve all got your things, follow me and I’ll give you a tour of the house.” “Daddy, can we show them the playroom?” Morgan asked, still trying to steal Tony’s sunglasses. 

“Oh, Morguna, we can _ absolutely _show them the playroom.” Tony replied, giving up his glasses as a lost cause as he stuck them on Morgan instead. “Although, we’ll show them the backyard first. Daddy’s gotta make sure Stevie didn’t get stuck doing the time-wrap.” 

“What’sa ‘time-warp’?” Morgan asked, as everyone disembarked the Quinjet. Nate squirmed in Cooper’s arms. “Co-co, put me down!” 

“Aw, c’mon, you know I hate that nickname Natey.” Cooper said, but dropped Nate down onto the ground anyway, who immediately began running around and talking excitedly about everything he could see. 

Tony, who was telling Clint, Lila and Laura to “Just drop your bags on the porch, we’ll get them in a sec.” was subjected to cheek poking courtesy of Morgan. “Daddy, daddy, _ daddy, _what’sa ‘time warp’?” 

Tony gently pushed Morgan’s hands back to herself as the group walked down a path of stone into the backyard. “It’s a song, m’dear.” 

_ “Ohhhhhhhh. _ Okay.” Morgan said, sticking her thumb in her mouth. They rounded a corner and saw the set-up: A one person Quantum Tunnel, which was being manned by Bruce while Bucky and Sam watched, and a few large generators to power the whole thing. 

“And five… four.. three... tw-” Bruce was cut off as the Tunnel glowed to life and a figure was kneeling at the center.

Dark, short red hair, stained by blood and frozen. Pale gray skin. Blue lips. Snow covered gear.

Natasha was back. She was _ alive. _

A choked sob broke its way out of Clint’s throat as he rushed forward, and Tony quickly put Morgan down, yelling for Pepper.

Clint skidded to a stop, crashing into the side of the Tunnel, scooping Natasha into his arms and lowering her gently to the ground. Distantly, he could hear Cooper yelling at Nate and Lila to look away, and Laura trying to calm all three of them as Tony continued to yell for Pepper, running inside with Morgan right behind him. 

“Nat? _ Natasha?!” _ Clint shook her shoulder, checking her pulse and being relieved, so _ so _ relieved when he found one. He pulled Natasha closer as Bucky and Sam rushed forward and the Quantum Tunnel lit up once again and Steve appeared, covered in dirt and a few stray cuts but looking nowhere _ near _ as bad as Natasha did, who was now shaking violently in Clint’s arms, eyes squeezed shut. 

“Oh, _ god, _ is she going to be alright?” Steve asked as Bucky pulled him off the Tunnel and Pepper and Tony ran back out with blankets and first aid supplies. “I knew she was bad… But it didn’t look this _ awful _on Vormir.”

Natasha stirred slightly, a soft huff escaping her lips, and it was such a _ relief _ to hear the sound. She opened her eyes and blinked blearly, head lolling from side to side. 

“Man, what the _ hell _ happened to you, Nat?” Sam asked as he helped Clint wrap Natasha in a blanket. Clint was apologizing softly to her, over and over again, and didn’t even realize until Natasha had tapped his face with her hands, and tried to speak, raspy groans 

Natasha gestured from Clint to lean down, and he did so quickly, fiddling with his hearing aid to better pick up whatever she had to tell him. 

_ “You… idiot…” _Natasha whispered weakly and Clint just stared incredulously at her… before laughing. He held her tighter as he laughed, while everyone else looked at Clint like he had lost his mind. He managed to calm down and wipe away some of the tears on his face fairly quickly, and turned to Steve. 

“Y-yeah Steve… she’s gonna be just fine.”

OoO***oOo***OoO***oOo***OoO

Tony looked around his (now _ very _ crowded) house. Ever since Natasha had returned, the place had been in an absolute _ uproar, _with everyone he texted being portal’d back here via Strange’s magic shenanigans. Both Bruce and Strange were confident that Natasha was going to make a full recovery, and the woman in question was seated in between Clint and Steve, with the youngest Barton on her lap. 

Once Natasha had been well enough to speak, she told them of the place she had went to when she “died”, the snow and the wind, how she almost didn’t believe Steve was there when he came to pull her out in the nick of time. Everyone had listened in subded silence. 

Now, though, everyone seemed to be throwing a party, and Tony couldn’t blame them. They’d had precious little to celebrate now for five years, and if this didn’t constitute a party, nothing did. 

Peter was climbing on the walls, decked out in his Iron Spider suit and being recorded by Shuri, who was trying to convince him to flip off the ceiling. Tony wondered belatedly if he had been brought back from the dead only to be killed by sheer teenage stupidity. Scott had blown up a Lego house with one of his disks, which took up his whole dining room, and Steve kept summoning Strombreaker from Thor, much to the delight of the other guests. Morgan was running around the house with a helmet of his (seriously, where did she _ get _ them from?) and “shooting” at “bad guys” which was really just throwing regular sized Legos at stuffed animals lined up against the wall. 

The kitchen had been stocked fully with all sorts of foods and drinks, as well as party hats, confetti, party horns, and more. People would walk in and out, taking samples or whole plates of food back to wherever they were sitting, occasionally throwing on a hat or grabbing a horn for the hell of it. Music was playing from somewhere, and all around Tony was the sound of laughter, people hugging in celebration. 

“Hey, Tony.” Oh goodie, a hug for him too. From Pepper. Tony wrapped his arm around her waist and hugged back as Pepper smiled at him. 

“Our family is crazy, huh?” Family? Tony was inclined to disagree for a moment- but then he remembered what he- what _they-_ had all gone through to get here.

The Avengers were Tony’s family, once. And they were his family once again.

“Yeah, Pep. The craziest.” And he honestly couldn’t- and _didn’t-_ want it any other way.

**The End**

**Author's Note:**

> So, this took forever to write, ngl, but I'm honestly so proud of myself for completing it. I'd like to give a shoutout to my good friend Saffs, who proof-read this hot mess for me. <3
> 
> The ending is pretty sappy, which is honestly what I wanted. A nice ball of fluff at the end of a disaster rainbow.
> 
> Also for the "Tony dying" scene let's just say he was less dead then shown in the movies. Like... 12% less dead. XD


End file.
